


Broken Faith

by SagiDraconis



Category: One Piece
Genre: ASL Brothers, Celestial Dragons, F/M, Family, Female Reader, Fire, Fluff, Never thought I'd write those two tags next to each other, Potential Trauma, Trust, World Nobles - Freeform, mechanical arm, oh well
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2020-05-31 03:07:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 32,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19417228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SagiDraconis/pseuds/SagiDraconis
Summary: [Female!ReaderxASL]It's hard sometimes to accept who or what you are. That thought came to you when you were only six years old. Because being one of the infamous World Nobles wasn't enough, now you have to live with a robotic arm after the fire that destroyed your life. What would you do now? Could you trust anyone ever again, and more importantly, would they trust you? Three young boys in the East Blue may just hold the answer.





	1. Lesson 1: To be born a World Noble is to be born perfect

**Author's Note:**

> Phew! It's amazing how it took so long to write a single chapter. I'm so glad this has finally gotten started.  
> And now I have to put it on a semi-hiatus. Go me. Basically I'm doing some volunteering abroad for six weeks, starting in about a week, so I have no idea if or when I can update. And even worse, it's all going to be on my phone, since my laptop is way too bulky to take with me. T_T  
> What I am planning to do, therefore, is do some editing on the chapters for my other fic (insert shameless plug here), and after that try and work more on this one. I just really wanted to get this first chapter out before I went, but I'm really sorry everyone is going to wait so long for the next chapter. Just be certain, I am definitely going to continue this. I'm already emotionally invested.  
> But as a fun thing, this entire fic was inspired by a prompt I got. I'm pretty full up on long fics now, but if anyone wants me to write a one-shot or something, just send a comment. I have one condition, no NSFW. There is no negotiation to this, I refuse to write it. Anything else is fair game.  
> Enjoy!

“Stand up straight, girl!”

You bit your lip as something twacked the back of your helmet. Lowering your head to focus back on the horizon, you straightened your spine to try and make your six year old body an inch or two taller.

Mother shook out her hand aggravatedly, “Such a strange brat. You have the entire world at your feet, yet you choose to look up.”

Your lips tightened to a fine line.

“At least you know when to shut up.” She sighed as she collapsed back down on her slaves, the sound tinny through her helmet, “Papa told me that children were a nuisance...and I have to say, although I didn’t really understand what he said then, I most definitely do now.”

Scuffling your feet, you focused on the repetitive lull of the waves against the ship.

She beckoned you forwards with a finger. As soon as you shuffled close enough, her hand clamped onto your shoulder, “That is why we’re here, isn’t it brat? I don’t want another ‘Homing-Incident’ to further taint our bloodline. And it’s clearly evident that you are going to end up just like that fool.” She leered down at you, “And we cannot have that now, can we?”

You dipped your head, “No Mother.” 

“Good.” She leered down at you and patted your helmet, “You keep being as polite as that, and you’ll make a good wife to Charlos. Coincidentally, he recently got a little sister you can play with. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

_‘No. It’s scary.’_

You nodded.

She grinned, “You see? Being married won’t be that bad. Perhaps it’ll teach you to savour our noble blood, and not to fraternize with commoners.”

“What’s wrong with that…” You tried to smile, “They’re not that bad, Mother, once you get to know-”

“Brat...be quiet.”

“But Mother, why are we so superior to them anyways? We didn’t do anything-”

The slap she gave you sent your head smashing into the walls of your helmet.

“How...How DARE YOU!”

Fingernails scrabbling at the seal around your neck, she tossed the glass helmet off your head. 

The corner bashed your chin, and you thought you could taste something icky as you fell backwards.

“We...didn’t DO anything?!” She growled, “You deserve to breathe their disgusting air if you truly believe that! We are superior because we exist! WE ARE THEIR GODS! You’d better shut your mouth if you want to get married-”

“B-b-but Mother, I don’t wanna-”

Slap!

“YES! YOU! DO!”

A tear ran down your face as her fingernails dug into your arm.

“YOU’RE GOING TO GET MARRIED!”

Slap!

“AND CONTINUE THE BLOODLINE!”

Slap!

“AND REGAIN THE HONOUR!”

Slap!

“THAT OUR FAMILY!”

Slap!

BOOM

You were thrown back as everything became FIRE. Although she was just with you, you couldn’t see Mother anymore.

You sat up, whipping your head around, “Moth-” The sound caught in your throat as you coughed on the thick smoke.

It was hot. Too hot.

Everyone was screaming. Somewhere in the distance you could just about make out Mother’s shrill shrieks, but it was impossible to tell where exactly she was over the crackling flames.

You blinked, _‘What’s happening? Mother!’_

Boom!

Head hitting the deck, you tried to squirm to your feet.

“AH!”

Breathing quickly and shallowly, you turned to glance at your throbbing arm.

You screamed.

You had no idea what it had been, but the distorted metal pinning your arm to the deck glimmered menacingly in the orange haze. The flesh the scalding metal touched sizzled merrily, and you were pretty sure your arm was no longer an arm. There were points you couldn’t feel anything at all.

Tears streamed down your face in droves, blurring your vision.

_‘Mother...it hurts, Mother. Help me…’_

The scream halted, horse in your throat. You stopped attempting to dislodge your arm, falling to the deck in a slump.

_‘So...sleepy…’_

“Hang on a sec, isn’t she the girl?”

Two shadows loom over you. You willed your eyes to focus, but they ignored you.

“The World Noble spawn?”

A snicker, “Yeah it’s her alright. That goofy hairdo is recognisable a mile away. Like mother like daughter I suppose.”

You twitched, _‘Mo...ther…Where are you?’_

The dark forms recoiled, “Holy shit, she’s alive!”

“How? She’s breathing all the smo…” A sharp inhale of breath.

Why were you listening to these idiots again? They were annoying. You would have politely told them so, but 

“Where’s her helmet.”

“Dude, I was thinking the same thing...All Nobles have helmets, even the brats. Apart from-”

It took so much effort to listen to every word, it made sense to let it all get fuzzy.

“Take...with u...Dragon...terested…”

“Hang...brat...lucky...”

“Eesh...arm’s...goner, no way...vank...fix this…”

“Have...cut it off…”

It was easier to just relax into a nice sleep. After all, it was warm and cozy...Perfect for a little nap…

You flickered your eyes shut as a shadow raised its arm.

_‘Mother...I’m sorry.’_

* * *

“Hey brat, wake up. We’re almost there.”

“Oh hush now, she’s a delicate flower not a savage,” Ivankov sashayed in, knocking aside the revolutionary with an accentuated hip swing. “How are you, my angel?”

You yawned a little, “I’m okay, thanks Iva.” Tilting your head to the side, you scratched your cheek, “So...which are you today if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I seem to be feeling a little _female_ at the current moment.” Cooing, she pinched your cheek, “Oh aren’t you polite! Oh how I wish you were one of my candies…” 

You raised your arm on instinct to swat her away, only to accidentally slam the unsuspecting Okama into the walls of your tiny cabin.

“Ah! I’m sorry! Are you alright Iva?!”

“It’s no worries, angel.” Ivankov hopped out of the hole, dusting herself off as if nothing had happened. Her voice took a lower tone, “I take it...you’re still not used to the new arm then.”

Staring down at the oversized robotic replacement, you shook your head. It was big, far too big for a child, and so you were left with an arm that trailed all the way down to just above your feet. You willed the metal to make a fist, watching blankly as the long fingers immediately bent into the corresponding position. The action felt very detached, despite the limb being welded to your shoulder.

Ivankov sighed, “I am truly sorry about your arm. From what the boys who brought you in told me, there was nothing we could do.”

_Sizzling. Like pig fat on a pan._

You bit your lip.

“And although we didn’t have any...your size, at least Dragon let you have this one, yes? You poor dear.” She flung her arms around you. “You’ve been through so much for one so young...Which is why we’re taking you somewhere you can grow up in peace.”

Unused to the contact, you stiffened, “And...where exactly is that?”

Dragging you, and by extension your arm, out of the door, Ivankov gestured excitedly at the bright blue skies and the quickly approaching land mass, “I’ve never actually seen the place myself, but Dragon heard about it from his dear old dad. It’s a group of mountain bandits lead by a woman called Curly Dadan if I remember correctly. I’m simply positive no one will expect to find the daughter of a World Noble there.”

“Oh.” Wincing from the bright light, you cradled your massive arm with your original one. “That makes sense I suppose. I take it that you’re not coming with me, Iva.”

She winked, “So smart too...They’re going to love you, angel.”

“R-really?” You gave a small smile, twirling a stand of hair around one of your working fingers, “I hope so.”

“AAAAH! SO ADORABLE!” Iva’s massive cheeks rubbed yours up and down, “You’re just a little angel, you know that riiiiight~!? Oh,” She clapped her hands, “that reminds me. I bought you something.”

Some white cloth was thrown in your direction. Fumbling around with your large arm, you somehow managed to catch it.

“It’s not perfect, but it’ll do something to hide that arm of yours.”

You raised an eyebrow as you studied the garment warily, “What is this exactly.”

“A very fashionable poncho, my angel. If you carry that lovely arm, like so...And then we slip this over your head…like...so...Stop wriggling, angel, you’ll rip it! Ah, there we go.” She clapped her hands once more, “Don’t you just look adorable! And no metal in sight!”

You blinked, _‘I look like a triangle…’_

“I picked it out just for you! It really makes you look like a lovely little angel. Ah...to be young again! But I’m perfectly fine being this age, thank you very much!”

“Emporio sir, we’re about to dock at the Gray Terminal!”

Iva winked, “Oh thank you, Danny-boy.”

A shiver ran down the man’s spine as he hastily departed.

You turned to the giggling Okama, “Am I going to see you again, Iva?”

Her face fell, “I’m afraid I don’t know dear. It’s not like us revolutionaries can travel where we want…I’ll do my best, but I don’t know where Dragon will send me.”

You nodded in understanding as you watched the gang plank crash down onto a pile of scraps. Raising your head, you stared in wonder at the large mounds of junk as far as the eye could see. Gray Terminal was a good name for this place, all the colour had been sucked out into the low fog that enveloped the place. A far cry from the garish colours you were used to.

You gulped.

“Are you ready, (y/n)-girl? This is the closest we can get without our ship being detected.” Two hands spun you around to face Ivankov’s large, worried expression, “The arm doesn’t hurt, right? You don’t need any pain killers or anything? Oh and what if you get mugged! One of us should come with you...”

Squirming out of her grasp, you stumbled down the unstable plank. Balancing was hard without your arms. Once your feet had touched the piles of rubbish in relief, you span to face the rows of faces up above you. You smiled briefly, “I’ll be alright, thank you Iva. I’ve got my pistol, but to stop you worrying I’ll just keep out of sight until I find the place. Curly Dadan, correct?”

Iva nodded, unable to speak due to the sudden tears streaming down from her large eyes.

“Right then.” You dipped your head, “Thank you so much for taking care of me, everyone, and I hope we’ll meet again. Goodbye for now.”

And with various whoops and whistles oh your heels, you took off inland in a quick jog. The jog quickly turned into a run, and the run into a sprint. All the while, the smile on your face widening into a grin. Eventually, you tripped over a piece of something, it was hard to tell in this ever grey landscape, and tumbled into a discarded mattress. Lying on your back, you regained your breath gazing up at the sky. You giggled softly in exhilaration.

_‘I’m free, Mother. And I wish you could feel what I am.’_

A shadow leant over you, blocking out the sun, “Well here’s a new face. Heya stranger, welcome to Gray Terminal!”

Acting on instinct, you hurriedly shuffled back as far as you could.

“Woah woah, easy.” The shadow shifted so the light fell onto a toothy grin. He was young, around your age you suspected, with a ragged top hat perched on curly blond hair. His eyes made a quick inspection of you, “You’re too clean to be from here, are you a runaway?”

Cocking your head to the side, you considered it, “I suppose I am really…”

“Huh? Weird answer, but I’m gonna take that as a yes. Us runaways have gotta stick together!” He stuck out a grubby hand, giving it a quick rub on his even grubbier trousers as a second thought. “I’m Sabo by the way.”

You eyed the hand. You couldn’t shake it without letting go of your mechanical arm, and if he saw that...well that would be bad wouldn’t it? So you dipped your head instead, “I am Sai- My name’s (y/n), it’s a pleasure.”

Raising an eyebrow, Sabo bought back the hand, “Oh sorry, do you not have arms or something? That was insensitive of me.”

Smiling, you shook your head, “No I have arms, it’s just...complicated…”

“Wow,” He smirked, any effort to look remotely cool ruined by that missing tooth, “You sure do love speaking in riddles, don’t you?”

The two of you giggled, before the sound trailed away into silence.

Sabo tipped his hat, “Since you’re new round here, I can show you how to survive round here.” He grabbed the battered pipe from his back, slashing it down dramatically, “This place is filled with criminals, so you need to be careful who you trust and where you get food and stuff.”

“That’s very kind of you, but I actually have a place where I’m supposed to be,” You shuffled to your feet, almost face planting the mattress in the process. You were quickly finding that many things were hard when you can't use your arms, “It’s a group of bandits run by a ‘Curly Dadan’. Have you heard of them?”

“Uh…Yeah I have, actually.” He picked his nose absentmindedly, “I have a frie... _comrade_ who stays with them. You have business there?”

“Apparently I’m going to live with them.”

The boy’s face fell, “Oh so you’re not staying here then? It’d be nice to have someone to talk to when Ace goes home each day.”

You smiled softly, “You’re awfully trusting of someone you’ve just met in a place full of criminals.”

Sabo grinned, “I guess I am. But I dunno, since you’re a runaway like me, I guess I can see a bit of myself in you, that’s all.” He walked away a couple of paces, “I’m actually a bit late to meet Ace, he’s the one who stays with Dadan y’know. C’mon, I’ll introduce ya.”

Bouncing off the mattress, you hopped behind him, “That would be great. Thank you.”

He snickered as he scampered off, “Yeah, you’re a noble alright.”

You almost tripped over your own feet in shock as you followed behind.

“Only they talk like that!”

Sighing in relief, you picked up the pace. This kid was fast.

“Be careful where you step, ‘kay?”

“I think I would know that by now.”

You swiftly ducked behind an old bathtub as a gang of burly men sauntered by.

“So why did you run away?”

You blinked, “I’m sorry?”

“I said, ‘why did you run away’. Over here, there’s a shortcut we can take,” Sabo beckoned to a tiny gap between two run down shacks, “No one chooses to quit being a noble and come out here for nothing, there must have been some sorta reason.”

After shimmying your way through the gap, the two of you took off once more towards a dense forest.

Thinking for a moment, you clutched your metal arm tighter under the poncho, “I had nothing left for me.”

“Oh!” He sent a grin over his shoulder, “Then we’re just the same, you and I! It’s just like, we never wanted to be born into a noble family, y’know? We just _were_ , and people expected certain things from us because of it.” His eyes softened as the two of you finally leapt into the undergrowth of the tall trees, “Or at least that’s what it was like for me anyways...Sorry, I just sorta assumed the same for you.”

You rolled your eyes. _‘Not quite what I meant, but oh well.’_ Ducking under a particularly low branch, you quicken your pace to catch up, “No need to apologise, I also felt a bit like that.”

He abruptly stopped running, “Really?!” Spinning around to face you, his face lit up, “That’s awesome! I’ve never really had anyone to talk about this with! I really hope you come and visit me sometimes with Ace!”

“But what about this Ace you keep talking about? Don’t you talk about this with him?” You stumbled to a stop, almost crashing right into Sabo. That was weird, it was a lot easier to stop before...oh the arm. Always blame the arm.

The boy didn’t really notice just how close he had gotten to being knocked over, instead focusing on scratching his neck, “I...uuuh...haven’t...told...him? It’s a secret.”

You cocked your head questioningly, “So you told this secret to a complete stranger, and not someone you’ve clearly known for a while.”

“Uh...yeah?” He turned away, now scratching the side of his face, “You’re a runaway like me, so I knew you would understand how I felt. And that you’d also want to keep it a secret.”

Dipping your head, you considered it, “That kind of makes sense...I guess?”

“Yeah, it doesn’t really for me either.” Sniggering, he threw out his arms, “We’re here, by the way.”

All you could see were various trees and shrubs. You span on your heel to check behind you. No one in sight. Turning to Sabo, you raised a curious eyebrow.

He had the grace to look embarrassed, “Ace doesn’t really take too kindly to strangers, so it’s probably better if I don’t show you our secret hideout…”

You sighed, “I’ll turn around.”

“Sweet! I knew you’d understand!”

Turning your back to the sounds of Sabo vanishing into the deep shadows, you made your way to a convenient stump. Grimacing at the prospect of blemishing your poncho, you begrudging perched yourself on the edge.

_‘Trust Iva to give me something white of all things…As if it would remain clean for long.’_

You had seen slaves get their eyes gouged out for not properly cleaning Mother’s whites.

A low grunting made you look up. You sucked in a breath, eyes widening.

Sabo hadn’t mentioned there were wild animals here.

Clamping your mouth shut, you desperately told yourself to stay calm as you stared into the eyes of the large, and very much feral, boar.

Keeping a calm head would increase your chances of survival.

It pawed the dirt impatiently.

You were definitely not calm.

Standing slowly, you let go of your metal arm. It hung unnaturally below the edge of the poncho, but you didn’t pay it any attention as your other hand scrambled for your pistol.

Perhaps talking out loud will help you calm down.

“I’m not going to get killed by a wild animal of all things...I promised Iva I’d stay alive…”

You still weren’t calm.

The boar’s tusks glinted in the final glimmers of the sunset as its head lowered and it started its charge.

Squeaking, you raised your arms protectively above your head and shut your eyes.

CLANG

The impact sent you collapsing backwards over the stump, your back tensing as you slammed the ground.

_‘I...I’m not dead?!’_

A slobber of drool fell onto your face.

You tentatively cracked an eye open. Your jaw dropped.

The boar grunted, enraged it couldn’t get closer to mauling your face. It squirmed around, but the metal arm wouldn’t budge.

Jaw dropping, you raised an eyebrow at your prosthetic limb, “Oh right...a large hunk of metal can act as a barrier...”

You felt a little stupid for not remembering it sooner. Especially since you’d been moaning about it ever since you woke up to find it a permanent part of your life.

Leaving your prosthetic limb to deal with the still feral boar, you felt the brush of cold metal against your hip. Your hand flew to the pistol, a feeling of relief sitting guiltily in your gut. Wincing, you pulled the trigger and unloaded a bullet between the creature’s eyes.

It slumped to the side, the body hitting the ground with a dull thud.

Groaning, you slowly stumbled to your feet and quickly became aware of something on your face. You swiped across your cheek with a finger. The finger came back covered in a combination of blood, mud, drool and guts.

Lovely.

You flicked it absentmindedly to the ground, deciding there was no need to clean off the rest at the present moment. You would bathe yourself properly when you reached Dadan’s.

_‘Speaking of Dadan…Sabo really should have bought back his accomplice by now...’_

A twig cracked behind you.

You quickly turned your head to the side, afraid that smell of fresh blood had attracted more creatures.

Sabo and a new dark haired boy stood openly gawking at you. Or more precisely, they gawked at the bloodstained metal arm that was hanging below the hem of your poncho.

You froze, eyes widening.

_‘This is bad, isn’t it?’_


	2. Lesson 2: A World Noble is the definition of perfection

The silence deafened you. It sucked in all the noises that you didn’t want to hear, and made them louder. The rustling. The chirps of insects and birds. The low growls. The silent laughter. The shallow breathing of the two boys behind you. Your own pounding heart.

Quelling your instincts to run, you held your ground. You would not run. Running when caught is shameful. Besides, it wasn’t like you had done anything wrong. It was self-defence. You had to fight, or you’d get eaten or worse. They had to understand that much, they could tell by the boar corpse next to you.

So why were you terrified?

Schooling your features to hide your internal conflict, you slid your pistol neatly back into its holster. Once that hand was free, you scooped your metal arm behind the safety and security of the poncho. You let go of the breath you were holding. You felt much better already.

“Was that you?”

You span to face them, your manners kicking in automatically, “I’m sorry?”

The dark haired boy pointed his metal pipe towards the position on your leg where your pistol was now strapped, “The gunshot. Was that you?”

Hesitating for a second, you nodded.

“Right.” Sabo grimaced, “We should finish up here and scram before anyone finds us.”

His companion grunted, before storming forwards towards you. His grip on his pipe tightened as he lowered his head.

You twitched, and took a shaky step back. What was he doing? What did Sabo mean by ‘finish up’? Were they going to attack you?

Were they going to kill you?

He marched straight past you and knelt by the boar.

Oh. You inclined your head up to look at the fading light through the foliage instead of the two boys. Not that it did much good. Once you lowered it back, you found a pair of eyes glowering back at you.

You bit your lip to stop yourself from crying out. That level of intensely burning hatred, of _disgust…_

It reminded you of Mother.

And then he glanced away.

“Right.” Your eyes widened as he hefted the large creature over one shoulder and sprinted off into the undergrowth as if it weighed nothing. “Time to go.”

Sabo grinned at your dumbfounded expression, “Leaving scraps may have been alright when you were a noble, but out here food is hard to come by. We’re hardly gonna turn our nose at a perfectly good cut like that. Now come on! You wanted Ace to show you to Dadan’s, didn’t you?”

Yes. No. You weren’t so sure anymore. What if she hated you...

You nodded.

“Follow me then. I’ll try to pick an easy route,” Sabo made sure that you’d understood before turning and running off after his friend, with you hot on his heels.

The forest was both easier and harder to navigate than Gray Terminal. On the one hand Gray Terminal comprised of loose rubbish, which means you have to watch your footing. On the other, you at least knew what looked sturdy there. In the forest, branches broke, or just turned out to not even be branches at all because they were snakes the whole time. A patch of sudden moss might make you fall into a well placed animal trap. Anything with bright colours might be a predators lure.

You were lucky you had Sabo to guide you safely through. You dreaded to think of what might have happened if you’d gone alone.

However, you frowned as you jumped over a log, how was he going to find his friend-who-you-suspected-was-Ace? Mount Corvo was a big place after all; he could be anywhere.

For the second time that day, you felt quite foolish as Sabo lead you into a clearing. The dark haired boy from earlier tapped his foot impatiently as you approached, “I was wondering what took you so long. Why’d you bring that dead weight?”

“Ace, she just bought down that boar without getting a scratch. You of all people should know that isn’t easy. I don’t think she’s dead weight.”

So you were right, _that_ was Ace. You tsked softly. You’d already decided that he wasn’t very nice. No manners whatsoever.

A decision that rooted more securely in your mind as he spat in your direction, “Sabo, she’s a freak. Just look at her.”

Looking down at yourself, your nose wrinkled, “It’s hardly as if I chose to be covered in boar entrails.”

They either didn’t hear you or chose not to.

“What do you mean?”

Ace gaped at him, gesturing manically at you “She. Has. A. Metal. Arm!”

“Which,” Sabo raised a finger authoritatively, “is awesome.”

“ _Awesome_?!”

His eyes sparkled, “Yeah! She’s like a robot!”

“Uh...I’m _not_ a robot.”

“So she might have super strength! That’s why the arm’s so big!”

Ace rolled his eyes, “Right…”

“And, and she can probably shoot lasers and stuff!”

You blinked, “Lasers?”

“Andandand she might even have a _jetpack_!” He was practically bouncing at this point.

“Sorry to disappoint,” you sighed, “But it’s just the arm.” However you cocked your head to the side. A jetpack sounded nice...

Sabo deflated. “But you can still shoot lasers, right?” he asked hopefully.

Stroking a finger over the covered metal, you furrowed your brow, “I’m afraid I don’t know...I don’t know much about this arm at all...”

“Whaddaya mean, you don’t know?” Ace grumbled, setting down the boar, “You didn’t read the instruction manual before choosing to...to... _upgrade_ your arm?”

You raised your gaze to levely meet the dark haired boy’s, “I’ll have you know that having this arm was the last thing I ever wa-” Your voice choked off, unable to make the words.

Suddenly you felt hot.

Too hot.

You sucked in a coarse breath as flashes of golden orange and red flashed across your vision. 

Along with the sound of sizzling.

Letting go of your metal arm, you willed it to make a fist. Again, you were stuck by just how disjointed the action felt. Almost as if someone was controlling it from a distance. It still didn’t really feel like ‘your’ arm, and perhaps...you didn’t want it to. You felt your resolve tighten, “Having this arm was the last thing I ever wanted. I lost...my original arm.”

Ace raised an eyebrow, “How’d you lose an a-”

“If it got cut off...” Sabo frowned, swinging his pipe into his palm in grim anticipation. “Some bastard cut it off you? Do we need to beat anyone up?”

“No!” Your head snapped up, “That’s not it at all! They saved me by cutting it off.”

“Uh...how?” He cocked his head in confusion.

Ace glared at him, “And why’d we need to beat them up anyways? We barely know this spoiled freak. Like hell we’re risking our necks for her!”

“An excellent point, which is a surprise from someone like you,” you snapped calmly as you scooped your arm up once more. “We’ve just met today, so sorry but I’m not telling you everything.” Ace opened his mouth to protest, but you continued on, “It’s not as if I’m the only one with secrets they want to hide.”

Both boys froze, Sabo with his pipe suspended in mid air.

Ace clenched his fists, “So what? You’re different from the rest of us. You’re a freak.”

“Can you just take me to Dadan’s now. I’m tired of this...”

“No! Like hell I’m gonna live with a freak like you.”

You arched an eyebrow, “The feeling’s mutual.”

It wasn’t as if you were angry. No, just slightly irritated. Irritated that this _child_ could be so aggravating. But you didn’t show a thing.

Mother had told you that people didn’t want to see any emotions. If one was part of one of the greatest bloodlines in the world, she said, then you need to show that you were above that sort of petty drivel.

Mother also screamed a lot. And whined a lot. And showed a lot of pleasure torturing people.

Your lip curled minutely down. Mother was gone for good. That was all in the past now.

But the word ‘hypocrite’ still worked beautifully now.

* * *

Ace did in fact take you to Dadan’s. Sabo talked him into it, _“If you take her there then you won’t see her all day while she does your chores.”_

It was, quite obviously, an attractive proposal.

So although he grumbled, and made every effort to shove you off cliffs or into animal lairs the entire way, he stayed with you until the front door.

“Here.” He grunted as he set down the boar carcass, “Home sweet home.”

Your nose wrinkled. There was no other word for this building _but_ shack. Misshapen, creaky boards had been haphazardly cobbled together, clearly by an amateur. The whole thing could collapse in on itself if you so much as breathed wrong.

And it smelled...it smelled... _icky_.

Something sticky landed on your cheek, followed by the sound of footsteps casually but hurriedly retreating.

Your eyes narrowed, _‘He didn’t...’_

Before you knew what you were doing, you had spun on your heel and connected his chin with your fist.

The metal one.

Ace soared high, _high_ into the air; clearing the tops of the trees with ease. His already small form vanished to nearly a pinprick before it crashed to the ground.

You blinked, before outright boggling at your still clenched fist. _That_ was impressive. No six year old should have been able to do that, even to someone around their own age. And no girl for that matter.

The blood dripping metal glinted back at you.

Oops.

You sniggered inwardly, “Perhaps now you’ll learn the true value of manners...”

Someone whistled, impressed, behind you.

Hiding your arm under your poncho as quick as you could, you span on your heel.

A large, rotund woman with carroty hair smirked in satisfaction as she followed Ace’s trajectory through the sky. “I’ve wanted to do that to the brat for so long.” She sighed wistfully. Then she looked down at you. Raising an eyebrow, she suddenly leant forwards to peer inquisitively at you with brown piggy eyes. “Hmmm...I know you from somewhere...”

Something heavy sank deep into your bones. Your features went slack, your mouth hanging open just a bit. _‘No. Nooononononono...Iva said they wouldn’t know me here…’_

But Ivankov never said that. And you knew it.

The ginger haired woman _screamed_.

* * *

“NO!” Dadan (the fa... _round_ ginger lady) declared, lighting a fifth cigarette, “Like hell I’m letting scum stay here!”

You dipped your head, twiddling the fingers on your flesh arm. “I would appreciate it if you didn’t scream my heritage across the mountain.” ‘Flesh arm’ was a term you would never, never use again.

Dadan snorted, holding up a paper a few days old, “Like hell I can if ya were plastered over the front page! It was so major that _Dogra_ made me read it.” She shook it out, “Listen to this. AHEM! ‘Ancient bloodline lost’. That’s a catchy headline right there. ‘Saint Tsuta and daughter brutally murdered’."

You twitched, unused to Mother’s real name.

“Now I dunno about this bloodline, but Saint Tsuta, she was a piece of work...” She shuddered, and you really couldn’t blame her.

Most people outside the Grand Line didn’t know about World Nobles-it was why you were here after all-but Mother had become somewhat notorious after the Fisher Tiger incident in Mary Geoise. But even so, this was worse than you’d thought.

Mother had thrown a temper tantrum when she’d discovered all her slaves had been freed. The worst she’d ever had. Not all the furniture had been replaced yet when you’d left. You had memories of huddling under your bed listening to the crashes and smashes and screeching. Worrying if your bed was strong enough to protect you. At the time, you thought that was the worst it could ever be.

But the scariest part was when Mother finally dried her eyes, and gave her best, beaming smile. At auction, she bought extra slaves; far more than you could ever need. At first, you thought it was because she wanted some spares, but she'd surprised you. She was extra kind to them for a week, giving them nice food, comfy beds, and pretty clothes.

And after the week was up she’d have fun cutting them up bit by bit.

The laughter was almost as bad as the screaming.

At the end of the month she’d decided you were going to marry Charlos.

“I’m not like Mother,” you stated calmly. 

Dadan snorted, “Yeah like I believe that…”

You wrinkled your brow minutely, “I don’t want to be like Mother.”

“It doesn’t matter if ya _want_ ta be like her or not,” her voice lowered as she glared at you, “the fact is you’re her spawn. You’re gonna be like her if ya want ta or not. The blood’s there. Ya don’t get a choice.”

Your gut felt hollow, “No…”

She sighed, “I dunno how ya survived, and I dunno why ya came to us, and I sure as hell don’t wanna know what the hell happened ta ya arm, but the answer is no. An’ it always will b-”

Crash!

Part of the wall smashed behind you.

“HEY DADAN!”

She flinched, “Please no...Not _him_...”

Your pupils tightened as soon as you focused on the hulking silhouette. His very presence filled the room...you could choke on it.

In your chest your heart pounded like an irregular drum. Instinctively, you scrabbled back.

The sound made him realise there was someone else in the room. Instantly, his head snapped onto your trembling figure in the corner and his jaw dropped. He took a shaky step forwards.

You recoiled.

Vice Admiral Garp.

Vice Admiral Monkey _D_ Garp.

And he was in the same room as you.

“You’re alive…”

Your eyes widened as the beast sank to his knees.

“Oh thank God you’re _alive…_ ”

Crash!

An identical hole appeared next to the first.

“(Y/N)-GIRL I FORGOT TO GIVE YOU SOMETHING!”

Your jaw dropped, any self control completely dissolved, “ _Iva_?!”

“Yes, it is I.” Ivankov preened his (he _looked_ male this time) mass of purple hair, “We were just about to sail off when I remembered…” He trailed off, mouth gaping.

He wasn’t the only one. The marine’s eyes had stretched so wide they looked like they’d just roll out of their sockets. And Dadan...well, her jaw just about slammed into the floorboards.

The Vice Admiral was the first to react, “Emporio Ivankov!” he boomed as he shot to his feet, pointing manically, “Wha...what are you doing here?!”

“I could ask you the same!” Iva spluttered, “I just said, I forgot to give (y/n)-girl something.”

“ _Forgot to give her something_?!”

The flimsy walls quivered as he roared. You squeaked, and scrambled behind the only person in the room you felt safe with.

The Vice Admiral raised an eyebrow, lowering his voice, “Saint (y/n)...you should get away from him, he’s a very dangerous man.”

“It’s ‘ _Okama’_ I’ll have you know!”

Reaching out with your non-metal arm, you latched onto Iva’s cape.

“You do realise he’s part of the group who blew up your ship!”

You nodded, not trusting yourself to speak.

Grimacing in confusion, he ground his teeth, “And you _still_ side with him?”

You shuffled your feet.

“Look, I know you’re scared of me...but please,” he knelt to your level and outstretched his hand, “I’m here to help.”

His smile was way too large and toothy.

Nuzzling into Iva’s cape, you felt his hand pat your head, “Now now, angel. It’s alright.” His voice tensed, “You are very welcome to _try_ and arrest me, but what are you planning to do with her, ‘Hero of the Marines’?”

Sighing, the Vice Admiral lowered his hand and collapsed with a thud to the floor. “What else can I do? I’m assuming you bought her here so Dadan can take care of her, but now I know she’s here I have to bring her back to Mary Geoise-”

“If you do, she’ll die.”

Eyes widening in horror, you stared up at Iva.

His eyes softened, and he smiled apologetically before turning back to the marine, “You know how they treat ‘defective’ or ‘imperfect’ Nobles. They’d tear her apart.” His grip tightened on your shoulder, “And I’m not letting you do that to her.”

“You mean the arm-”

“It was that or let her live her life with a missing limb.”

The marine clenched his fists, deep in thought. Eventually he raised his head and gave Iva a curt nod.

Together, they turned towards Dadan.

She bristled, “No no no and NO! Have you seen this place?! Does it look like we can take in another ki-?!”

“We can’t keep calling her (y/n),” the marine straightened, and crossed his arms towards Iva.

“Agreed.” The Okama scratched his chin, “People will put the name and her appearance together…”

“OI! LISTEN TA ME, I SAID NO!”

They glared darkly at her.

Dadan deflated, hanging her head in defeat.

Iva clapped enthusiastically, “Speaking of appearances, angel, I forgot to give you this.” He held out a folded piece of the same white fabric as your poncho. “It’s a hood,” he explained as you shook it out, “It sticks onto the neckline of your poncho if you give it a little press.”

“Why are they in separate parts then?” you mumbled as you did as he asked, albeit a bit fumbled with a metal arm. Eventually Ivankov did it for you, to your aggravation.

Relief rushed over the Vice Admiral’s face as soon as you spoke. You pretended you hadn’t noticed.

“It’s a safety thing, so if someone grabs you by the hood it comes off in their hand as you escape.”

That made sense. You pulled the white fabric experimentally over your head, wishing there was a mirror to see yourself in.

The marine tsked, “That’s all well and good, but we need to give her an alias. I can forge some documents on my end, but we need to decide on a name first.”

“Yes, yes, but we can’t just pull one out of a hat.” Iva mused.

“Yeah.” Dadan sighed, stroking her chin, “It has ta suit her.”

You all boggled at her.

“What?” She shrugged, “She’s gonna stay here whether I like it or not, and looking at her she’s gonna be a lot less work than Ace. So might as well help her out.”

You smiled, dipping your head, “You have my thanks.”

She grinned softly, “I could get used ta having another girl around...”

“But going back to the name,” Iva hummed, “I think she should take my surname-”

“LIKE HELL SHE’S HAVING THE SAME SURNAME AS A CRIMINAL!” The Vice Admiral coughed into his palm, “‘Monkey’ is a fine surname…”

“ _FOR AN UNCIVILISED CREATURE SUCH AS YOURSELF_!”

“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?”

You went to sit by Dadan while the Okama and the Marine glared irritably at each other, cracking their knuckles. It looked slightly safer.

She sighed, “I’d give ya my surname if they’d not kill me for it. And if I even remembered it!” She snickered, which in turn made you smile, “God you’re a cute one, and nice manners too...Makes a nice change after the other brat.”

At the reminder of Ace’s existence, your mood soured instantly.

“He’s riled you up too, eh? That’s impressive. Well then...You have my full permission to do...whatever you did outside to him whenever he’s an ass, alright?” Dadan winked furtively.

You beamed, “Really?!” Because he was ill mannered all the time.

Her hand planted on your head and aggressively ruffled your hair, “Ya know kid, I think you bein’ here ain’t gonna be so bad.”

A bubble lit up inside your chest, light and colourful. It felt odd, but in a good way. Like you were suddenly weightless and a couple of inches off the ground.

The Vice Admiral growled as he stormed towards the awaiting Okama, both cracking their knuckles.

“Don’t fight, you’ll destroy the house!” the bandit snarled, “It’s just a surname! Besides, ya dumbasses, she doesn’t need the documents for a while! And it ain't like she’s goin’ anywhere; just wait til she’s sixteen; then she can choose her own!”

They stared at her with fists full of the other’s collars.

“That’s actually not a bad idea.”

“Mmmm...”

You nodded, “That seems reasonable. But what about a first name?”

Now all three gaped at you.

“Kid,” Dadan smiled, “It’s pretty obvious. What with ya previously being a saint and being dressed in white an’ all.”

Your metal limb clinked under the white poncho as you glanced around at their proud expressions from under the hood.

You didn’t get it.

* * *

“Angel? I thought Sabo said your name was (y/n).”

You rolled your eyes as the lie came easily to you, “That was just a false identity for when we traveled through the Gray Terminal. There were so many criminals there I didn’t want to take chances.”

This sleeping arrangement was far from ideal. Dadan knew full well your thoughts regarding Ace, and yet here you were sharing a room with the imbecile. Although, you conceded, there wasn’t really anywhere else you could have slept. Because there was no chance you were going to sleep with the rest of the bandits. They all snored, especially Dadan.

 _Especially_ Dadan, according to Dogra.

So that left Ace’s room, in all its cramped and creaky glory. Pretty much like the rest of the shack, come to think of it.

But then again, you mused as you snuggled under the blankets Dadan had given you, it could be worse. If Iva or _The Marine_ hadn’t shown up, you might have been sleeping in the stomach of a wild animal by now. Or, you could be...

You rapidly shook your head to get _that_ horrible thought out. Mark your words, you weren’t getting married.

Never.

Never ever.

Especially not to that horrible slimy Charlos.

That produced another shudder.

Ace glared at you from the opposite side of the room. You were secretly quite proud at his black eye, broken lip and sprained ankle (apparently he'd landed on it at an angle after he fell). Not to mention all the cuts and scrapes he’d received from various branches breaking his fall. Dadan all but howled once he’d hobbled through the door, and he hadn’t quite forgiven you for it.

He hadn’t noticed how worried the ginger bandit was for him, or how Dogra and Magra and the rest of the bandits had been searching for him for hours.

He also hadn’t noticed your efforts to apologise.

Because although you didn’t really want to, you’d ought to. It was only right.

Dinner was odd. After witnessing what you could do to a person with a single punch, most of the bandits shied away from you and let you get your food unhindered. The metal arm may have done some part in deterring them. Which was nice, but quite uncommon according to Magra. And sure enough, as soon as you’d stepped away with a plateful, chaos broke out over any little scrap of meat. Even the dog joined in. But unfortunately this meant that there was an impassable barrier of ravenous bandits between you and Ace.

So that didn’t work.

And now he was glowering at you from his side of the room. Which made it very hard to apologise to him.

“I don’t trust you.”

You rolled to the side, “The feeling is mutual.”

“You speak like a freak.”

Instantly you sat up, “I was going to apologise to you, but I can tell that it would be wasted on an insensitive idiot such as yourself.”

He frowned, “See, you speak funny. Like you swallowed a dic-shon-ry.”

“I believe the word you are looking for is _‘dictionary’_. Which, it seems, you need.”

“And why were you gonna apologise anyways?” His nose wrinkled as he tilted his head to the side, “You _wanted_ to hit me.”

You flinched, “Yes punching you in the face relieved me of a lot of unnecessary stress, but that doesn’t mean I should have.”

“But you wanted to hit me.”

“Yes I wanted to hit you,” you hissed, “You _spat_ on me!”

He snickered.

“And I’m confident that you want to hit me,” you finished, scooping your metal arm onto your lap so you could face him properly.

The smile fell from his face, “So what if I do? You’re a f-”

“Oh please,” you groaned, resting your head on your hand, “find a better word for me than ‘freak’; your lack of education bores me. How about aberration? Oddity? Anomaly? Monstrosity? Take your pick, because _those_ I can assure you sum me up perfectly.”

Ace shot to his feet, knuckles white, “I can’t stand this any longer! I’m gonna talk to Dadan about you getting a new room.”

“What a coincidence, I was about to do the same!” you fired back, standing a little less clumsily than before.

Both of you moved to the curtain that lead to the rest of the house.

“Why the _fuck_ did I take her iiiiin~?!”

The bubble from earlier popped. You stopped with a hand on the curtain.

Ace sneered at you, ready to go through, “See, she doesn’t want yo-”

“It’s like we run a daycare for demon’s spawn or s’mthing?!”

He froze too.

“First it was the son of a devil, now it’s the daughter of another!” Dadan sobbed drunkenly, “WHY DOES THIS SORTA SHIT HAPPEN TA MEEEE~?!”

“Uh now Boss...I don' geddit 'bout Angel, but they're gonna hear ya...”

“LIKE HELL I CARE! THEY BOTH KNOW WHAT MONSTERS THEY ARE!”

“B-b-boss!!”

But by that point the two of you had stopped listening. You and Ace looked at each other with a newfound sympathy. And a vow never to speak about this ever again.

You didn’t sleep well that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Muahahaha! Behold! I've updated! And if I do say so myself, it's a pretty good chapter. A lot happened.
> 
> I like it anyways.
> 
> I took a page out of my own book by giving the reader a name. I just find that it's easier to refer to her that way, and less clunky. So Angel it is. But mark my words, her name is still (y/n), so don't forget it!
> 
> Its official, Ivankov is my favourite character to write. S/he's so fabulous that s/he pretty much steals whichever scene s/he's in. The gendering is a pain though, so I hope I'm doing that alright.
> 
> Let me know how I'm doing!! I love reading what you say, even if it's something bad. I'm only human after all; there's always something to improve.
> 
> Have a nice day/night!


	3. Lesson 3: To be a World Noble is to be a God

Dadan never mentioned a thing the next morning. You’d expected that; she’d sounded so drunk that there was bound to be some memory blurring. You'd experienced that with Mother many times before.

It still hurt though.

But at least something good had come out of that painful experience. You and Ace found that you tolerated each others presence now. Which, you thought as you trudged along, could never have happened otherwise.

“You okay there, Sai...Angel?”

You resisted the urge to shy away from The Marine’s hulking body. This was awkward...too awkward for your liking.

Iva left yesterday with very much the same reaction as when you’d left the ship. After his wailings and tearful goodbyes had vanished beyond the horizon, you’d been struck by a very distressing thought.

You had no belongings. Which meant you had no clothes or (you blushed at the thought) undergarments. Or any money to buy these with. And it wasn’t like you could borrow any of Dadan’s...

As soon as you said that, she and The Marine looked at each other and guffawed. Apparently there was a small village nearby where his grandson lived.

That was where you were going today. With _The Marine_.

Hence the thick atmosphere.

“So...uh...what sort of clothes do you wanna get?”

You pulled your new hood over your head to shield him from view.

He coughed and tried again, “You’re gonna love Makino, she’s a great seamstress.”

Silence.

“She’s the one Luffy’s staying with-OH,” his face split into a toothy grin, “Have I told you about Luffy?”

You groaned, “Yes; I'd appreciate it if you don't mention him again.”

“HA!” He pointed at you triumphantly, “You said something! I win!”

What? You stared at him sharply. Was he a child?

He chuckled under your scrutiny, scratching the back of his neck, "Well...you're normally to scared of me to speak, so…"

Your lips pursed.

"Say," The Marine grumbled, "why're you so scared anyways? Us marines are on your side, well, the side of the _Nobles_ , so what's the reason?"

You didn't say a word, focusing on the path in front of you.

He sighed, "And we're back to the silent treatment...But I swear-" He pointed at you in aggravation.

You flinched.

"-you weren't like this with other marines. Just me."

Oh yes, you hadn't forgotten that he'd once been part of an entourage for Mother and you. The reason for said entourage escaped you, but the silhouette of the large man had burned itself into your memories for good.

Along with the memory of Mother hissing in your ear.

_"You see that man, brat? He's a child of D. Make one wrong move, and he'll eat you."_

_"But Mother...I thought he's a good guy..."_

_"Ha! You're so naive! Listen up, and let Mother tell you another lesson. Never, and I mean never, trust a D. They are God's natural enemies, and since we are the closest to Gods that means that they are ours."_

_"Even him?"_

_"Especially him. He's a wolf in sheep's clothing. Make one wrong move, brat, and he'll gobble you up in a mouthful."_

Taking in The Marine's slightly yellowed teeth, you shuddered.

"Yeah, people have been intimidated by me, which is cowardly...but not flat out terrified like you are-"

"Oh look," you sprinted forwards in relief, "Is that the place you're taking me."

A badly muffled curse sounded behind you, "Yup. That's Foosha Village. Now I'll just take you t...he-HEY! GET BACK HERE, SAIN...dammit...ANGEL!"

You thought not. This journey with The Marine had been tortuous, especially given the latest topic of conversation. You weren't staying a moment longer. Not if you could help it.

* * *

"This is it!"

'Partys Bar' the sign proclaimed on the tastefully designed building before you.

Your brow furrowed minutely. A bar? But wasn't this 'Makino' a seamstress?

"Now then," The Marine raised your dangling body to the level of his eyes, "If I let you go, you're not to go running off like that again, yeah?"

Dipping your head, you nodded.

Although the idea was tempting, you knew not to make another escape attempt. He'd caught you in seconds, bellowing like a bull the entire time.

And he wondered why you were scared of him… Typical.

"Garp?" A girl in a yellow headscarf hastily pushed past the shutters, drying her hands on a dish cloth. The loose strands of hair framing her face glinted a flattering shade of green in the outdoor sun. Upon seeing The Marine, her face lit up in, "So it is you! I thought I recognised your voice!"

A man appeared behind her, greying streaks in his forest green hair. The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled, "Now that's hardly polite. You mean Vice Admiral Garp, don't you Makino sweetie? How are you sir?"

"Oh I don't give a damn; you both can call me Garp, Peta. You've known me long enough." The Marine grinned boyishly.

The other man rolled his eyes, clearly expecting this answer, "Ah, but where are my manners, come in, come in!"

It wasn't as if you had much of a choice, what with The Marine's death grip on your poncho. 

The inside of the bar lay silent, possibly because it was the middle of the day. Even so, there remained a bright and friendly atmosphere throughout the entire room. An ambience aided by colourful posters, homemade candles crafted from old rum bottles, and small jam jars of petite wildflowers. The tiny room practically screamed promises of warm laughter and a good time.

You were used to expansive rooms; slick and white and spotless. There was laughter, sure, but it was mocking and cold. Any greenery was fake, of course. Mother despised the irregularity of natural plants. Flowers had to be perfectly symmetrical, perfectly coloured, and perfectly scented. Anything less was unsuitable for a World Noble.

But you liked this a lot better.

"So then Garp, is this another grandchild you're going to throw at us?"

You whipped your head up in alarm. He was going to throw you at him?!

The Marine barked out a laugh, "Nah, this one isn't mine. This," he proclaimed, setting you down on a barstool and clapping you on the back, "is Angel."

"Ah, Angel! Such an adorable name for an adorable girl," Makino sighed, clasping her hands against her cheeks.

Peta didn't look convinced as he scrutinised your face, "So, who is she then? And if you don't mind me asking, why is she here?"

You wanted to speak on your own behalf for once, "My ship was attacked by Revolutionaries. The Vice Admiral was able to rescue me, but all my family and possessions were lost." You gestured to Makino, "As such, I need new clothing. The Vice Admiral told me that Miss Makino was a wonderful seamstress, so if it isn't an inconvenience…"

"Nonsense!" She grinned kindly, "I'd be happy to help. You poor thing, losing everything all at once like that."

The Marine coughed, "There is...an extra thing. One we'd appreciate if you...didn't mention."

Makino's face fell, as she glanced at her father. Peta knitted his fingers together, pausing a moment before nodding in exasperation, "Of course there's a catch. Go on."

The Marine looked at you apologetically. Or to be precise, at the poncho.

Oh.

"I would appreciate it if we did this somewhere private," you mumbled.

The Marine's eyes bulged, "Oh, yeah, my mistake Angel. Yeah," he turned to the other two, "This really should be done where there is no chance of being interrupted."

Makino and Peta exchanged a worried glance, "We have the back room…"

"Perfect."

The back room was merely a wine storage facility, but that didn't matter. It was enough.

Peta crossed his arms, "This is just getting fishier and fishier. I hope you know what you're doing Garp…"

"Papa!"

The Marine just waved it off, "It's fine. I'd be pretty worried too, if this happened to me. But now," he gestured to you, "If you wouldn't mind, Angel."

Oh you minded. You minded a lot. But, you acknowledged with a sigh, you didn't really have a choice. Doubt settled in your gut. But what would they think? What would they say? Would it be like what had happened with Dadan? You'd got lucky once, but would it happen again?

Would they recognise you?

Sitting on a pile of crates, you self consciously tugged down on your hood.

The Marine chuckled nervously, "She's, ah, a little shy. Distrusting of strangers, ya know..."

With trembling fingers, you stroked the hem of your poncho.

These people seemed nice. So it should be alright, shouldn't it? Shouldn't it?

This was all the confidence you were going to get. You didn't raise the poncho high, just enough to allow the metal of your oversized arm glint in the light from the tiny window.

The reaction was instantaneous.

Makino audibly gasped, the tea towel she once held drifting to the floor as she clasped her hands to her face. Her father merely froze, jaw slack and eyes gaping.

You let go of the fabric. Sucking in a breath, you lowered your head to stare glassy eyed at your feet.

They hated you. Give it a moment and watch them scramble over themselves to try and get away from you. Ace's words echoed through your mind.

_"She’s a freak. Just look at her.”_

That had made you angry. Angry because he'd cut right to the heart of your doubts and twisted the knife. Angry because he was probably right.

 _Mother_ was probably right.

"Oh you poor thing…"

You loosely raised your head.

Makino moved a step closer, "You lost your arm in an accident, didn't you?"

Her father's lips tightened. His old eyes shone with recognition as he shakily turned to The Marine, "Lost an arm. Accident in the paper. You of all people bringing her in. It's _her_ , isn't it."

He nodded.

"Even so, Papa," Makino leant down to squeeze your hand, "that doesn't mean that we can't help her. She has no one left after all."

You didn't understand.

To your shock, Peta's lips crinkled into a smile, "I was never going to suggest otherwise, dear. Now miss," He rubbed your head affectionately, "I'd imagine it's a little tricky to get any clothes to fit you, correct?"

What were they doing?

"Now this material is like nothing I've ever seen before," Makino mused, rubbing your poncho between her fingers, "I'll have to do the best with what I've got to make it work though."

Peta chuckled, "Just make sure whatever you make can be put on with one hand, dear. That lump of metal doesn't look like it handles buttons well…"

"Why?"

They both looked at you curiously.

You bit your lip, "Why are you being considerate towards me? I'm the daughter of a World Noble; I'm _Mother's_ daughter...And I have a metal arm...so why…" you trailed off lamely, not knowing how to phrase the rest without sounding pathetic.

Makino beamed, "Oh you don't act like any of those Nobles in High Town, so I don't see the problem. Everyone has an equal chance to live like anyone else if they want to try. Of _course_ I want to help."

"My daughter is very kind and caring," Peta said, patting her affectionately on the shoulder. Eyes misting over, he turned and smiled at you, "Someday, you'll grow up and maybe have kids of your own. Then you'll understand why, not just as a fellow person but as a _father_ , I just can't _not_ help a little girl like you."

The midday sun streamed through the tiny window, illuminating the dusty room. Your lips parted in awe. Light fanned out around Makino and Peta, casting them in a hazy glow. It was ironic, you thought. They were far more angelic than you ever were.

* * *

You carefully raised your larger arm as Makino wrapped the tape measure around your waist. What Peta said earlier still confused you. Cocking your head to the side, you considered what he might have meant.

As a father...

But wasn't having children awful? Mother complained the entire time about it, and apparently _her_ father did the same. So why did that make Peta more likely to help you. It made no sense…

"All done," Makino sang, scribbling a collection of numbers on a small notepad. "Thanks for that. You've been a star, standing patiently like that for so long."

You hurriedly shook your head, "It's nothing, honestly. It is I who should be thanking you for making these clothes for me."

"Gosh, so polite," she giggled, "You almost make _me_ sound vulgar."

Hopping onto the bar stool she patted, you almost let out a tiny giggle yourself. The Marine had gone to look for that 'good for nothing grandson of his', and almost as soon as he'd walked out of the door you felt a weight lift from your chest. And no, that wasn't because you raised your metal arm for Peta to get a good look at the joints. He'd left soon after, muttering lowly about oil cans and various forms of metal polish.

You hadn't even considered things like that. Perhaps you should ask for a book on engineering or craftsmanship. This arm wasn't going anywhere; you needed to learn how to take care of it. Your mind tripped over the thought in surprise. Not even a day ago, you'd thought that having this arm was the worst thing that ever happened to you. And now you were perfectly happy to embrace it.

"You're smiling." Makino chuckled at your shocked expression, "Oh it's nothing to be worried about. It's nice; a pretty smile."

Flesh fingers poked metal ones, "I guess I have more of a reason to smile now."

Her face both fell and lit up at the same time, "Oh honey…" Abandoning her notepad, she pulled you closer and wrapped her arms around you tightly.

This was a 'hug' wasn't it? Iva had given you plenty on the ship, and that was what they called them. You leant forwards, wrapping your non-metal arm around her. You decided you liked hugs. They were cozy, and smelt nice. 

"M-M-Makinooooo!"

Your eyebrow twitched.

"Save meeeee!"

A small figure sprinted through the door, slamming it closed behind him. He was young, younger than you at least, with messy black hair sticking out at all angles. Panting manically, he whipped his head back and forth.

Makino's grip on you loosened. Damn. "What is it Luffy?"

You raised an eyebrow. So this was the infamous Luffy? But wait, you realised in horror, that meant…

"GWAMPS IS HERE!"

The door crashed open with a resounding bang.

"Luffy…"

The blazing shadow cracked his knuckles.

"Is that any way to greet your Grandpa?!"

A small body wormed its way between yours and Makino's, quivering in terror. Not that you were much better. You weren't shaking, just frozen solid. 

What terrible teeth he had.

The Marine stomped into the room, "Come on out you ungrateful brat! There's someone here…" He trailed off as he meet your gaze. "Oh god no."

You squeaked, burrowing your head further into Makino's back.

"Distrusting of strangers I see." Makino monotoned.

The Marine bristled, "So yeah, she's terrified of me. No idea why. I tried to ask but..." A sigh. " _That_ happened."

No. You'd escaped.

Makino stiffened, deep in thought. A finger pointed accusingly towards The Marine. "Out."

"But-"

"Out." Her delicate smile directly contradicted her tone of voice, "I'm trying to measure Angel here for her new clothes, and I'd rather _not_ be disturbed every single time you enter the room. We'd never finish. So for the last time, out!"

It was an outright lie, but it hardly was as though you were complaining.

The large mouth opened and closed rapidly like a goldfish Mother once had. He chuckled nervously, rubbing his neck, "Now, Makino-"

Her eyes narrowed.

"Fine. I'm leaving," he grimaced, shoving his hands into his pockets, "I need to talk to Peta anyways. Luffy!"

The second body recoiled.

"We'll do our training later. _Be ready_." And with that threat made, for what else could it have been but a threat, he stormed off.

Once again, you let out a sigh of relief as his figure retreated. You weren't the only one.

“Phwaa,” Luffy collapsed backwards, “I thought I was gonna die...”

Your cocked your head to the side. Even The Marine’s own grandson was petrified by him. And he seriously wondered why you were scared of him… Honestly, it was getting a little ridiculous.

Makino seemed to agree with you, “Now then Luffy, you should really be more polite to your grandfather.”

“Aw!” Luffy moaned, lips trembling, “C’mon M’kino! He was gonna thwow me in ‘nother jungle ow ow ow off ‘nother m-ow-ntain!”

You winced minutely at his heavily lisped speech. Thankfully you could easily decode it: for Luffy ‘v’ becomes ‘b’ and ‘r’ becomes ‘w’. This sort of speech pattern was to be expected from someone his age, you supposed. You’d seen other World Nobles your age babble like that due to poor discipline, but Mother found the noise ‘repulsive’. So that was the end of that for you.

It was still very sweet though. Not that you’d ever admit that out loud.

“WOOAAAH!”

“EEEK!” You jumped backwards as his head moved right in front of yours.

He didn’t seem to mind, eyes twinkling brightly, “You habe a weally cool awm!”

It took you a moment to remember that you weren’t wearing your poncho for once. Makino had taken it off to measure you properly. Of course he could see your arm.

“It’s so biiiiiiig!” The tiny boy bounced around you like a rubber ball, poking your arm enthusiastically, “Awe you a wobot?”

Oh dear lord not this again. What was it with boys and robots? Personally, you didn’t see the appeal. (Or at least that’s what you told yourself.)

You opened your mouth to explain before closing it gingerly. He was young. He wouldn’t really understand, and in some ways you didn’t want him to. You turned to Makino for support.

Smiling sympathetically, she smoothed her skirt out in front of a battered sewing machine, “Would you mind amusing him for a bit? I want to get one set of clothes done for you by the end of the day, so I need to get a move on. And as I’m sure you have guessed, Luffy is, as a four year old...quite high energy.”

So that was her game. Well, it wasn’t as if you had much of a choice. And it would be nice to have a change of clothes for once.

“Yes, I am a...a...‘ _robot_ ’,” you spat out the word in a hurry but even so, you made sure to pronounce it properly for him.

This was humiliating… You were more of a cyborg really, but you weren’t quite mentally prepared for how Luffy would butcher that word. It was taking everything you had to not shake the small boy until he spoke properly.

“WEALLY?!” His grin widened, “I wanna wobot for my cwew, but I dunno ‘bout a girl.”

“A crew?”

He clung onto the oversized limb eagerly, “Yeah! My piwate cwew! Li’me up!”

“Don’t touch that. It’s dangerous.” Did he mean pirate? You shook your head. That was impossible. His grandfather was a marine, and a D at that; there was no way he could want to be a pirate.

“Li’me up!” Pouting, he frowned at you.

“No.” You glared at him, “As I just told you, that’s dangerous. It is _not_ designed for playing.”

He stuck out his bottom lip further, jumping up and down in a mini temper tantrum “UP! UP!”

Expression softening instantly, you raised your arm.

He giggled, kicking his legs excitedly, “Weeeeeeeeeee! Now down!”

Raising an eyebrow you lowered the arm. He found this fun?!

“Yeah yeah!” He squealed, meeting your gaze head on. “Again!” he demanded.

You smiled and did the action again. How could you not, when he derived so much enjoyment out of it, “So why don’t you want a girl on your pirate crew?”

“Shanks doesn’ habe a girl on his cwew, so I won’t too.” (You mentally screeched at that one) Luffy cocked his head to the side as you slowly lowered your arm, “But you’we pretty cool...An’ I wanna wobot…” He nodded his head thoughtfully, scrunching his face in an expression he thought was dertermined, “I’be dec...des…”

“Decided?”

“Yeah that one. I’be dessided that you’we gonna be pawt of my cwew.”

You hummed, focusing more on how the joints and pistons in your arm operated as you repeated the movement, “I’m not sure, Luffy. Your grandfather may not approve…”

“What does ‘appwoved’ mean?” He cocked his head to the side, before grinning at you, “Faster! Faster!”

Absentmindedly you increased the speed, “It means...agree as good.”

“Oh.” He frowned, drawing his eyebrows together into an almost comical expression, “Yeah, Gwamps won’t like it. He wants me to be a mawine. But I don’ wanna be a mawine. So will you join?” He twisted himself upside down on your arm, grinning in anticipation, “Will you? _Will you_?”

Oh why not humour him for a bit. What was the harm, “Of course I will.”

“You _pwomise_?”

Your lips set into a fine line. This was stepping slightly beyond humouring a child. You turned to Makino for advice.

Shaking out a paper pattern for some trousers, she winked.

Sighing, you broke down into a small smile, “Sure.”

“ _Pwooomise_?”

“I promise.”

“YAY!” He giggled triumphantly, “My fiwst cwew mate is a wobot! Now as your Captain, I order you to go FASTER!”

You chuckled quietly, “Aye aye captain!” Making sure to increase the speed, you raised your arm and…

“WAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...!”

Makino’s stool clattered to the ground, “ _LUFFY_!”

You stared wide eyed at the new hole in the ceiling. And at the screaming child vanishing high into the sky. Again. And you’d actually tolerated this one too. You squinted in the bright glare.

He would die if he fell from that height! And it would be all your fault! If only you’d acted more cautiously. If only you’d said no. _If only you could reach him-_

Clunk.

A gear in your shoulder clicked into place, your arm at once reaching out towards the soaring boy. Palm outstretched, you suddenly heard the ever present whirring sound slowly intensify to a crescendo before experiencing the agony of your entire shoulder being knocked back. A recoil. You knew that much from your time wielding your pistol. But a recoil to what? Rubbing your head, you glanced up to investigate.

Meters and meters of delicate metal chain fired from the opening your wrist was supposed to be. It took no genius to deduce where your hand was. Another clunk sounded as the oversized metal grabbed onto something; you could feel the same electrical stimulation as you would if it closed onto something fleshy.

And then the chain started to return. Fast. Almost as fast as it had fired. So you were met with a quickly oncoming Luffy to the face. Combine that with the force of your hand snapping back onto your wrist and you were knocked flat on your back with a child on top of you.

You sucked in breath after heavy breath, somehow feeling exhausted despite the fact you’d done absolutely nothing. 

Makino didn’t say a word, and you couldn’t see her expression from your position.

The body on top of you squirmed, before sitting bolt upright.

Slumping your head to the side, you gaped at your arm. Back to normal, as innocent as a mass of slick metal could be.

“SHISHISHI! Again! Again!”

_‘That was new.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Blinks eye open* Oh is it time for a new chapter already? Okay here you go, now let me sleeeeeeeep.
> 
> So yeah, I've been surprisingly tired this week...which means my typical update schedule is a bit out. You're going to get chapters when I'm done with them, and maybe someday I'll start updating on the weekends like usual.
> 
> As an aside, I got my first fanart!! This was from 'roseilles', who sent me a quick sketch of Angel and her arm. Words can't describe how happy I was to receive it. I'm working on making a fanart collection on Quotev (emphasis on working on, and I'll post a link when I've actually done something), so if you want to post fanart I'll be very happy to get it! I'm on Discord (same username) and Tumblr (again, sagidraconis). The profile pic is the same on both, so that's a good indicator if it's me or not. I also have an email if that makes things simpler: sagidraconis@gmail.co.uk (because I'm so predictable).
> 
> Send me stuff! It can be anything fandom related, not just fanart. Fan theories, headcannons, just random thoughts, all welcome. I'm chill with pretty much whatever.
> 
> Welp, I've said my bit. Imma gonna go back to hibernation now. Uni prep sucks...


	4. Lesson 4:A World Noble need never work menial tasks

You studied the tree intensively, drumming fingers (non metal ones obviously) against your chin. 

The shadow of the tree stared back.

It was still quite early in the morning, but you'd wanted to avoid chore duty. Dadan had hinted yesterday that since you were now settled in, you would have to do your fair share of work around the shack. It wasn't as if you were opposed to the notion; in fact you were secretly looking forward to the once forbidden prospect of 'cleaning' and 'cooking'. But you'd rather be certain that you could control your abnormal strength first.

You didn't want another Luffy Incident on your hands.

Speaking of hands… You cocked your head at the metal. What was that thing your arm did to get Luffy back? It seemed like some sort of grappling system not dissimilar to the harpoon guns Mother had enjoyed playing with. But that was just from one observation under stress, and wasn't to be relied upon.

Yet that was precisely what experimentation was for.

You sucked in a breath, focusing your attention back on the tree. You willed your metal arm to form a fist "Day one of testing...begin!"

With that, you flicked the tree.

A mild crunch sounded, accompanied by a cloud of sawdust. Coughing, you waved it away with your other hand to see the result.

The bark had crunkled around a sizable indent a couple of inches deep.

Pulling out a small pad of paper and a pen, you made a note of that. Making annotations was something scientists did when they were doing experiments after all, and right now, you were definitely being a scientist.

You had expected this sort of result. This was why you'd chozen a tree with a sizable diameter. As it was, the tree's width was over five times your height. It probably had been alive for centuries, home to small insects and climbing ivy and moss. And a mere flick had left an imperfection.

That fact alone made your brow crinkle. Ace was lucky to be alive. He took one of your punches head on, and when you were angry no less. Surely that would have left more of an impact than what you'd just done.

Yet this begged the question, what could you do at full strength?

Retreating a few steps, you firmly squared your shoulders. For the first time since you'd woken up in an operating studio to find the limb permanently attached to your shoulder, you didn't resist it. You didn't restrict the sheer power you knew full well flowed through the unknown mechanisms under the metal plating. You let it hum. You let the metal fully heat up.

Your fist retreated backwards. Fighting was something you were unused to, let alone throwing a punch. The pistol was different. That, Mother had said, wasn't for fighting.

It was for asserting dominance.

You slammed your fist into the tree.

A rush of wind blew past you, whipping your hair around your face. The cloud of sawdust this time got blown away instantly. The result was indisputable.

You needed another tree.

Or to be precise...another grove of trees.

~0O0~

Day two started out in quite a different way to day one. With you sprinting away from a furious Dadan. It seemed she hadn't quite understood your fears about helping out with the chores. Even so, you'd argued, you did bring back plenty of firewood yesterday. Enough to supply the entire shack for three entire months.

That shut her up. Even if she still thundered after you like a raging bull.

Somehow you'd managed to escape, and in doing so got a little bit of exercise. Your physical fitness was next on your list after the whole 'figure out how not to destroy anything you touched' thing. But it was considerably less of a priority. At this point, everything was.

You were planning to go and visit Luffy and Makino at the end of this week. Partially to collect the last of the garments that Makino had made, but you knew deep down you just wanted to see Luffy. It was odd, but the small child fascinated you. It was a completely different sort of upbringing than you were used to, and you would be lying if you said that you weren't a bit curious to see what sort of effect it would have.

But considering Luffy's hyperactive nature, you really needed to work on your control. Yes, he had enjoyed his impromptu flight and instantly begged for another one, but you weren't about to take any chances. What if you didn't catch him the next time? What if you hurt him? Or, the worst of all, what if The Marine found out?

You shuddered. That was not a good mental path to go down. Focus on the training.

Since it was control you were aiming for, it made no sense to go full strength on a tree. But did that mean you needed a slightly slimmer one than yesterday? You decided against it. Work your way down, as that way you would get a slight sense of achievement.

Raising your metal arm, you gave the tree what you considered to be a slight tap.

It snapped like a twig.

Perhaps you should postpone your visit to Foosha a little longer.

~0O0~

By day thirty seven, you had grown a little bored of breaking trees. Which meant that you moved on to your secondary objective; just what was that harpoon thing your hand had turned into?

You stared at your metal wrist dubiously. There was no obvious clues there, just sleek, dark metal. Had you imagined it?

No. You shook your head, raising your arm horizontally. If you  _ had _ somehow made it up, then how would you explain how you had caught Luffy. So something must have happened.

The problem was, could you do it again?

You willed your palm to shoot forwards.

Nothing. Not even a hiss.

Hesitating a little, you made a note about that. Any information was welcome at this point, even if it was generally quite annoying.

"Hiya, Angel! What're you doing?"

Lowering your arm, you dipped your head towards the two apporaching figures, "Hello Sabo. Ace."

Ace scoffed, "You collecting firewood again? Go do something useful for once, like me!" He threw down the large slab of meat from his shoulders and slammed his foot on top of the creature's head.

As if that was going to impress you... You rolled your eyes and decided to ignore him as you turned to Sabo, "I'm training."

"To get better at using your arm?" He hummed thoughtfully as you nodded, "Considering how long it took for Ace to get over those injuries from last time, that seems to make a lot of sense."

"OI!"

"Correct. I do not want to cause anyone any unintentional harm." You pulled out your notebook, shoulders drooping, "Yet that may take quite a while."

Sabo scratched his head as he flicked through the pages, "Wow, I see what you mean… You're gonna destroy the entire forest if you keep going at this rate!" His eyes sparkled, "You really do have super strength! So cool!"

"Hang on!"

You and Sabo turned blankly towards Ace.

He jabbed a finger towards the pad of paper, "You guys can read and write and stuff?!"

You raised an eyebrow, "Are you implying that you can't?"

Ace bristled, "Sure I can! Gimme that!" Snatching the pad out of Sabo's hands and the pencil out of yours, he scribbled something down. "This," he proclaimed triumphantly as he shoved it into your face, "is your name!"

The paper read 'Phreeck'.

You were conflicted. Should you laugh or be offended? Yes, his lack of education was amusing, but he  _ had  _ scrawled it all over your neat annotations. And his handwriting was appalling; you weren't even sure if you'd correctly deciphered what Ace had intended to write.

The brim of Sabo's hat nudged your head as he leant in for a closer look. "Pfffffft!" He doubled back instantly, clutching his sides for support, "Ace, your spelling really sucks!"

"Huh?!"

"I dunno what it even means!"

"IT SAYS 'FREAK' DOESN'T IT?!"

"Nope! Not even close! Bwahahahahaha!"

His laughter was infectious, and you quickly found your shoulders heaving with suppressed giggles. You shouldn't giggle. Displaying emotion was for the weak, that's what Mother had always said. A World Noble was beyond the emotional capability of the common people.

But now, as you watched Ace's face turn a delicate crimson as he screamed at a sniggering Sabo, you couldn't see why. It made you feel light. A lot lighter than you had done at Mary Geoise.

Looking down at the paper in your hand, you wondered if you were going to feel like this more often. You hoped so. It felt nice. "Oh I don't know, Sabo. It's...close…in an odd way."

Ace blinked at you.

"You kidding?!" Sabo wiped tears from his eyes in an over dramatic way that undoubtedly was meant to annoy Ace even more, "I would never have guessed that's what it meant."

"What if you read it phonetically?" You mused, a smile starting to pull at your lips.

Ace recoiled, "Fon-ete-what?!"

Sabo thought about it, "Ph-ree-ck...F-rea-k...Huh, that actually works."

Turning over to a fresh piece of paper, you wrote the correct spelling and showed it to Ace, "This is how you spell 'freak', Ace."

"I knew that!" He marched over without meeting your eyes and tore the page off, "I was...just checking you guys did!"

Sabo cackled.

"Don't laugh!"

"It's hard, haha, to not laugh, heh, Ace,  _ when you're being so stupid _ !"

Ace punched him in the face.

"Oi!" Sabo scrambled to his feet, "What was that for?"

His friend growled, "You called me stupid."

You let out a tiny giggle.

Ace rounded on you in an instant, "Don't you start, Freaky!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," you waved him off, "I need to get back to training soon, anyways."

That made Sabo perk up, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. So what're you going to do today? Can we help?"

"Help her?" Ace scoffed, but for once it lacked any of his usual spite, "Uh,  _ why  _ would we wanna do that?"

Dear lord, he was so transparent.

You glanced down at your metal hand. Should you tell them? There wasn't any harm; Sabo at least fully accepted who you were. He was one of the only ones who actually did that.

_ "That's because you haven't told them your lineage, you brat." _

You pretended you didn't recognise her voice as she hissed deep into your ear. Even so, Mother had a point. Neither of them knew everything. Sabo knew you were a noble runaway. Ace knew Mother was considered a demon. But unless they'd talked about it with each other, which you severely doubted, most of the truth remained hidden. You weren't quite sure how to feel about that. But that sort of matter was for another time.

"When I went to Foosha a month ago, my hand did something...odd."

"DID YOU SHOOT A LASER?!"

Ace slapped Sabo's head.

You smiled despite yourself, "No, I did not shoot a laser."

"Aw…"

"But my hand... _ fired _ out of my wrist in much the same way as a harpoon."

Both jaws dropped.

"No way!" Sabo's eyes twinkled, "You really are a robot!"

You frowned, "May I reiterate, it's just the arm."

"Y-you're bluffing." Ace frowned, crossing his arms in a confused huff, "I bet you can't even do it."

Scratching your chin, you dipped your head, "That's the point of the training." 

Ace turned on his heel, "That sucks! What's the point of an attack if you dunno how it works."

"I'm not even confident it can be so much as  _ classified  _ as an attack."

"That's even worse." He sniggered, before skulking away to his abandoned meat, "Why d'you even have a robot arm if you can't attack with it. It's stupid."

Why did he always have to ruin these moments?

Sabo pouted, "It doesn't matter if she can't attack. It'd look really awesome!"

Ace sneered, "Of course it matters. You can't do anything in this sorta world if you're not strong!"

Could he even hear himself? That sort of bull headed idiocy would get him killed if he wasn't careful.

"Are you dumb? You can't just be strong, you could get killed if you're not careful."

Sabo suddenly rose in your esteem.

"Nah. I'll be fine."

And Ace sank.

Your fists clenched. Why could he not just keep his mouth shut for once! So annoying! It was a pity he was so far away or you would have slapped him…

The whirring reached your ears before you realised there was a familiar length of chain firing where your hand used to be.

Ace collapsed backwards as your metal fist became reacquainted once more with his face.

Sabo watched in awe as your hand shot back and clunked back into position.

Ignoring both of them, you pulled out your notebook, "Note...Firing mechanism triggered by emotional stimulation."

Back to work.

~0O0~

"I wanna twain with you!"

You glared at the child as he marched alongside you, "For the last time, Luffy, you cannot train with me. It's dangerous."

He giggled, "Gwams puts me in jungles aaaaall the time. I'll be fine!"

You wouldn't put it past The Marine…but that wasn't the issue here.

"I might accidentally hurt you." You paused for a moment. What would he accept as an answer, "A crewmate shouldn't hurt their captain."

"Huh, that's smawt. Okay," His smile doubled in size, "I'll hafta wait 'till you get better then."

You let out a sigh of relief at the drop in conversation, before pushing open the door to Foosha's library. Peta had given you a book on metalwork a couple of weeks ago, which to your surprise made having your arm a lot less tedious. It was odd how much of a difference oiling joints and waxing the outer casing made. Not to mention it was immensely satisfying to watch the light bounce off newly polished metal.

But that was not what you were here for today. A problem had developed due to your training.

You had gathered too much wood.

Wasting it wasn't an option. You felt guilty enough just looking at the pile of slowly decaying timber. And Dadan had said that there was now absolutely nowhere to store it all. Which meant that there was a slowly growing pile of dead trees you had no idea how to deal with.

But there was a rule you had lived by back in Mary Geoise.

If you didn't know what to do, go to the library. Because quite often you could find the answers to things you didn't even know you were asking. It was odd, though. The selection here was about the same as the library you were used to, if not bigger. And less dusty.

Possibly because you were the only one you'd ever seen actually set foot in there back home.

"Look! Look! Angel, look!"

You turned to get a mass of paper shoved into your face.

Luffy grinned, "It has a piwate ship on it, seeeeeee!"

It was a woodworking magazine.

You felt quite stupid.

(And no Luffy, it wasn't a pirate ship, it was just a regular three masted merchant ship. This obsession was getting a little worrying.)

But still, it  _ had  _ given you an idea. His birthday was in a couple of months after all…

That thought shocked you. You'd never given anyone a birthday present before, let alone made one. Yet here you were, considering to do just that for someone you'd known for less than a year.

You still had the problem of a large metal arm that currently hugged your waist under the poncho. You were making progress in your training, but there was no chance you had enough dexterity to wield a tool. Competently or otherwise. You'd rather your skill be competent so you could make him a good present, but at the rate you were training that would be unlikely.

"Angel, Angel! Look! 'Nother piwate ship!" Luffy squealed, throwing the long forgotten magazine up into the air in his mad dash around the small building.

"Hush!" Fumbling with your arm, you deftly caught it midair and quickly marched to Luffy's next victim, a newspaper article on a recent pirate attack, "This is a  _ library _ , Luffy. You need to be quiet."

He pouted, "But being quiet's booooo-wing!"

Fiddlesticks, why did he have to sound so cute. It made the already impossible job of babysitting a hyperactive four year old so much harder.

You really shouldn't be complaining. This was your choice. Despite Makino's protests that you didn't have to do anything for her, you felt that you ought to repay her for the clothes. You had your pride after all. And since Luffy had taken a shine to you, you thought that a bit of babysitting would be ideal. Not all the time, just once a week.

Oh, the number of times you'd regretted that decision...

For Luffy, how would you phrase it, had never developed the idea of subtlety. He spoke his mind and did what he wanted, all. Of. The. Time. No exceptions. You couldn't count the number of times he'd proudly told a random stranger that his crewmate was a robot. Oh, the number of heart failures you experienced then... Thankfully, no one in Foosha actually took him seriously, but still. You didn't appreciate the additional stress it gave, thank you!

"Angel Angel! Loook!"

"Yes Luffy?" Forcing a slight smile on your face, your eyes flickered to the picture in the paper.

A straw hat dangled precariously on the man's head, thick bangs falling into his laughing eyes. 

"That's Shanks! He's weeeeeaaaaaally cool. I wanna be a piwate juust like him!"

Your eyes narrowed. So this was the person who influenced Luffy's obsession. For a pirate, you noticed, he did not seem all that terrifying. Even the article itself was harmless, even if it was filled to the brim with government propaganda. That, you could easily decode. A marine captain had attacked the pirate unprovoked, possibly hoping for a promotion, and had his fleet completely wiped out. However, there were no serious casualties and no loot or maps had been stolen.

At that, you despaired. He was a good man, and if this 'Shanks' wasn't a pirate he would have been the ideal role model for Luffy. But he was, and now Luffy was going out there against the World Government to follow in his very dangerous foot steps. And as for his Grandfather...

"Say, Luffy?"

"Huh?" He cocked his head to the side, "Whaddisit?"

"You said your... _ grandfather _ ," You shuddered, "wanted you to be a marine, correct."

He pouted, "Yeah, but I don' wanna be a mawine…"

"I know, I know." Taking hold of the paper in your hands, you looked down at Shank's carefree grin, "But does he know you want to be a pirate." Hopefully he would have realised that was a bad idea…

"Yeah, 'course I told him. He thwew me off a cliff."

There was no hope. None at all.

~0O0~

You collapsed backwards, panting heavily. Day one hundred and eighteen. And finally,  _ finally _ , the tree remained standing after a light tap. And no, this wasn't a monster tree like the first couple of trials; you'd moved past those by day eighty five. This was a sapling, only about one or two years old.

A smile bloomed across your face. You'd done it.

You finally had control over your arm. It wasn't perfect, but quite frankly you weren't expecting it to be in such a short period of time. You had the rest of your life to finesse your control. You were just happy you weren't breaking anything anymore.

Time to make that present. You had just over a week to go, so you needed to get a move on. It was obvious what you were going to make, you'd been planning this ever since you'd seen the model in the magazine. Your wood supplies had, ahem, doubled since then, so it wasn't as if you had no material to work with.

But what tool?

There was a carpenter in town you talked to for a bit; a lovely old man with no children to pass down his trade. He was more than happy to help, even going so far as to offer to properly give you lessons. You felt really guilty turning him down, but you honestly couldn't risk anyone seeing your arm. Makino and Peta were kind and gentle, however you had no clue who here might tip off the World Government to your location.

Or worse, they'd kill you on the spot.

You weren't foolish after all, Mother was despised by pretty much everyone on the  _ planet  _ let alone the Grand Line. You felt fairly confident that someone in this town would relish killing off her bloodline if you so much as hinted at your connection.

That thought made going back to Dadan's shack feel more lonely than ever. Dadan's shack. Where no one spoke two words to you. Sabo didn't really count, you only ever saw him in the forest with Ace. It would be nice, you mused, if you could just live with Makino, Peta and Luffy. That felt more homely than the shack ever did. Of course, your arm would be exposed pretty quickly what with being in the middle of town, but it was nice to dream.

Thankfully Ace was still out with Sabo when you got back. You weren't in the mood for his childishness, and you possibly (probably) would have hit him. It was surprisingly therapeutic.

Going behind the shack, you snapped off a sizable chunk of wood from your extensive collection and went to the grove you'd leveled the very first day of training. Using a knife, you cleaned off the spiky debris from a stump and hopped on top. It felt right to do it here. You were creating something new from something you'd destroyed, and what place was more obliterated than this one.

You shook your head. Don't think like that! You had to. For training. Otherwise you would have hurt someone.

_ "HA! You hurt everyone around you, brat. It's what you do, you hurt." _

You ignored her as you dug around in your bag for the tools your new friend the carpenter had lent you. A pencil, a carving knife, and two weird things that he'd called 'gouges'. You quickly sketched out the design you wanted onto the wood, tucking the pencil away once you'd finished. You were ready to start.

But which hand should you use to carve with?

On the one hand (you inwardly rolled your eyes at the pun) there was less chance of messing up your attempt with the non metal hand, on the other the metal hand had a far higher degree of accuracy than your flesh hand could even dream of. They both had their advantages and disadvantages.

Decisions, decisions…

You picked your non metal hand initially, using the reasoning that your metal hand would act as a good clamp to the wood as long as you didn't crush it. And so you worked, chipping diligently away at the slab of wood for hours and hours.

Holding the finished piece out in front of you, you snorted. It was appalling. You couldn't even tell what it was supposed to be, and you'd made it. There was no possible way it could be redeemed either.

Now you could test your theory about your metal hand. Potentially multiple times. After all, it would be unlikely you would make a drastic improvement that fast. It wasn't a big deal after all, as long as you had it done for Luffy's birthday. You had the wood for it after all.

And lord knows you had plenty of patience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look everyone. I'm alive. Heh...
> 
> Honestly, I am so sorry for not putting this out sooner. I've actually moved to University a few weeks ago, and it's taken me a while to get into routine.
> 
> Yeah. I still don't have a routine, so I have no idea when the next chapter will be. Hopefully, the delay won't be as long as this one, but I'm making no promises.
> 
> Thank you all for being so patient, you are amazing readers and I love you all. Seriously. You're awesome. You're the ones who encourage me on to write and keep going.
> 
> Sorry again for the wait...


	5. Lesson 5: It is forbidden for commoners to fraternize with a World Noble

"Whatchya doing?"

"AH!" You jolted, fumbling with the carving knife in the air before the blade sank into the tree stump next to you.

Scratching his head, Sabo chuckled, "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I was just curious is all."

You cocked your head to the side, "About what?"

He gestured with his pipe to the growing mountain of wood chunks scattered around you.

In hindsight that was a foolish question.

"There is a boy in Foosha I am…," you scrunched up your brow to think of the right word, "...close to. It is his birthday in two months, and I wanted to make a present for him."

"Two months eh?" Sabo whistled, stepping forwards out of the shadows to admire your handiwork, "That's dedication..."

You waited for the inevitable glower to follow him, but there was nothing, "Where is Ace?"

"Well...uh…" The boy chuckled breathlessly, fingers spinning around each other, "I...uh… sortaaskedhimnottocome."

You raised an eyebrow, "I beg your pardon?"

He sucked in a breath, doing everything possible to avoid eye contact, "We saw you doing this earlier this week...and I was really curious about it...but I know you and Ace don't really get along well...and he would probably would've said something mean...and you would've hit him...so I asked him not to come."

You were stunned. From what you'd seen, it was evident that Ace was Sabo's best friend and closest confidant. The two of them were as thick as thieves, pun not intended. So for Sabo to send away his friend merely to satisfy his own curiosity was touching. Very touching.

It made you feel valued.

"I hope you don't mind," he blurted out, "It's just that...you're like me, remember? Being a runaway and all. It's nice to hang out with someone who understands."

You started shaking your head before he had even finished, "It is no problem at all. I'm actually quite flattered you chose to spend time with me."

His face glowed, "So you want to hang out with me more?!"

"Of course," you dipped your head, "I was afraid you wouldn't want me around."

"Why would I want that? You're a robot!!"

You rolled your eyes despite your small smile, "Hardly."

He giggled, "Yeah, I guess you're more of a cyborg really. But it's still cool."

"Hm? I can guess I can attest to that."

A flock of birds took off from a distant tree.

You turned your attention back to the piece of wood you were carving, before chucking it over your shoulder.

"Woah!" Now it was Sabo's turn to juggle with the chunk.

Ignoring him, you picked up an unblemished log and switched to your pencil to start afresh. It was always important to mark on where you were going to cut. You had barely touched the graphite to the wood when your previous work appeared under your nose.

"Why'd you throw it away? It's good!" His face pinched as he inspected it once more, "Really good actually… I could see this in a shop window no problem."

You rolled your eyes, "Hardly. It has not even been sanded yet, or varnished, or had an axel put through it."

"Why does it need an axel?"

"So I can fix a wheel so that he can pull it along behind him, _obviously_." You sighed, "He is infatuated with pirates, and since I cannot exactly build an entire ship just yet I decided to make him a small toy that he can play with. Besides," Your lip curled at your failure, " _that_ is a disgrace."

"Scooch over." Sabo bumped you to the side as he seated himself on the stump next to you. "It seems fine to me. Great in fact…"

"The right porthole is not circular."

He held it close to his eyes, "Yes it is."

"You are mistaken." Setting down your tools, you pointed to the obvious imperfection. "There is an indent to the top left of the porthole. Ergo, it is not circular."

He frowned, "It's close enough…And if your…'friend'...is that obsessed with pirates, I really don't think he'd mind. But if you're _really_ bothered by it, you could just scoop out an extra bit so that it's a circle."

You gaped at him incredulously, "That would be even worse! Then the radius of the porthole wouldn't be identical to the others!"

"Then...make all of them bigger?"

"Then the proportions would be wrong!" Grabbing the model, you tried to force it from his grip. With your non-metal hand of course, you didn't want to hurt him.

Mother wouldn't have hesitated.

"You kidding?" His grip was stronger than you'd anticipated, "Now you're just being petty." Having a period of revelation, his eyes widened at the scattered models, "How many of these models have mistakes-"

"You mean failures."

"Whatever. How many of these have mistakes? Like...like...that one!"

You followed the line of his finger, "The mast is crooked for attempt 98."

His eyes narrowed, "By how much?"

"Three degrees."

"I don't believe you!" He grimaced, snatching the model from you, "You're turning it into such a big deal, but they're fine!"

Your head lowered, "But they have to be perfect. It _has_ to be."

If something wasn't perfect, Mother killed.

You heard a sigh next to you, "Fine. If you want it to be perfect, then make it perfect. But-" He held up the model eagerly- "can I keep this?! It's perfect!"

Scrunching up your brow, you cocked your head to the side, "No it is...not?"

"It's perfect for me! You made it after all!"

The untouched block of wood dropped out of your hands.

"It's so cool! And detailed! I can't make anything like that!"

It was perfect...because you'd made it?

Sabo leant forwards, "Are you...crying?"

"N-NO!" You recoiled, tugging your hood further over your head, "Don't be ridiculous!"

"Uaaah! I'm so sorry, I...uh...didn't mean to upset you or anything! I was...I was just trying to cheer you up! Gah!" A thwack sounded behind you, "I'm such an idiot!"

You giggled, "Yeah…"

"You calling me an idiot, Angel?"

You nodded.

He gasped, leaning forwards to peep under your hood, "Meanie! You're just like Ace!"

"How rude!" You declared, "How dare you compare me to that imbecile! He has no class!"

"It's nice to see you smile again."

"Huh?"

You gingerly reached up with your non-metal hand to touch the upturned corners of your mouth.

Sabo grinned, "It's nice to see that you're happy."

That was what Makino had said. But what did it mean? Why did people care?

"Running away sucks for the first bit." He leant back out of view, the occasional tapping of his pipe periodically breaking the silence, "No matter how much your family sucks, they're still your family. But it gets better, I promise!"

Oh right. He thought you were a runaway. The white lie...well, you would be lying if you said it didn't sting a little just then.

And you weren't quite sure about your feelings for your family just yet.

He nudged you, "No need to look so down, I just said it get better didn't I? Besides, you've got us!"

You cocked your head to the side, "Us?"

"Well, you like the kid in Foosha, right? You can rely on him."

"He's not even five yet."

Sabo blanched, "Why do you hang out with him?"

You raised an eyebrow.

"Huh, wait, didn't mean it like that…why do _you_ hang out with him?"

Eyes narrowed to slits.

Sabo chuckled nervously, "I...uh...just didn't think that _you_...uh...would be okay with hanging...um...hanging out with a kid. That's all!"

You sighed, "I thank you for having faith in me. Besides, if I am able to tolerate Ace then I am equally able to tolerate a four year old."

"Okay..." He mumbled, "Point taken. But you still have me!"

"How so?"

Sabo gaped at you, "We're friends aren't we!"

Friends? Frowning, you tapped a finger against your cheek.

"What are 'friends'?"

A silence hung over the clearing.

"Are you...are you serious?"

You cocked your head, "I thought they were somewhat like colleagues, but from the way you were talking about them I assumed I was wrong."

"Well...I guess they're sorta like colleagues…" He stared at you with glazed eyes, "More like family really…"

Family?! 

An image of Mother ran through your mind.

You recoiled, "I do not feel I want friends then!"

"Huh?!" Sabo blinked as he realised what he'd said, "Nononono! Sorry, not like that I promise. Gah, I'm so stupid…"

You pursed your lips, "So what exactly _is_ a friend then?"

"Well, uh…" He rubbed the back of his neck, "Gosh, this is actually quite hard to explain…"

So it was something that obvious...You sagged inside. Didn't that make you feel stupid…

"I guess...a friend is someone who sticks with you." He declared, "Through thick and thin! Who can listen to your deepest secrets and not be afraid."

That didn't sound like family at all… So you waited. And listened.

"Someone who isn't afraid of telling you when you're gonna do something wrong, but does it with you anyway. And most of all-" He held up a finger.

You lent in with baited breath.

"They support you. Let you follow your dreams."

"Dreams…" you murmured…

He grinned, "All I want is to be able to go where I please. Do you have a dream, Angel?"

Did you have a dream… It was a good question.

A bird chirped high above you, making you look up. Up to the beautiful cerulean blue of the sky. To the freedom… Beautiful freedom...

"I want to fly." You'd never actually said it before.

But it felt so...so... _right_.

Sabo giggled, "That actually fits…"

"Hey!" You pouted, "I thought you said friends support each other!"

He halted abruptly, "So...we're friends?"

Now it was your turn to twiddle your thumbs, "I'd...I'd like to be…"

"Okay," He grinned, "Then we're friends!"

Was that really it? From all the qualifications he'd set out...you had thought there would be some sort of ceremony involved, or with more selection and elimination like this.

"And as your friend, I want this boat!" He clutched it to his chest.

"No!" You reached out for it, "You...you deserve a better model than that fali-"

"NOPE!" He held a hand out, "I forbid you to say that next word! It's illegal now!"

Your frowned, "No it is not…"

"Well it is for us!" Sabo glared, but it was without any real anger as he gently handed you back the model, "You can finish this one off for me, okay? And don't you go making a new one for me-" he tapped the mark on the porthole, "-I'd know."

You glared at the imperfection, "But... _why_?"

"Welp," He grinned, "It's the model that got us talking to each other! It helped us be friends!"

It was as if the wood in your hands had transformed into a block of pure gold.

"Friends…"

Where was that imperfection. You couldn't see anything.

"Yeah!"

It was perfect.

* * *

"Oooh! Oooh! Make me have a cool scar! Through my eye!"

You rolled your eyes as you slowly sketched one.

"Awesome!" Sabo grinned, "You're the best, Angel!"

"Hardly." You muttered, reaching into your pocket for your trusty carving knife. "All I'm doing is making a simple figure."

"But it's me!" The look on his face could melt the coldest ice, "I'm gonna have a toy of myself. Not-" he amended with a glare- "that a tough warrior such as myself plays with toys…"

You giggled, "Why do you ask for one then?"

"What did Luffy think of your present for him?"

Sighing, you glanced sideways at him. That had been weeks ago. Hardly a smooth change of subject, "As I told you the first time-"

He scratched his head sheepishly.

"-He loved it." Your metal hand whirred as it scraped away with the knife. You'd soon found after all your testing that your metal hand could be highly accurate if it wanted to be. _If_ it wanted to be…

"But who was riiiight…?" Sabo grinned impishly.

You tsked, "You were…"

At Sabo's insistence, you'd given Luffy the model with the wonky mast. Which he had adored, proudly wheeling it around town for the entire day showing it off to everyone to see...Until he'd 'accidentally' ridden it, yes _ridden it_ , down a hill and into a brick wall. Ironically, and particularly to Sabo's amusement as you recounted it to him later on that day, the mast snapped in two. You'd offered to make it again for him, but:

_"I don't want 'nother one." He pouted stoically, tears streaming down his face, "You made it for me! It's perfect. Besides a...a captain never abandons his ship!"_

You smiled, slowly chipping away at the wood. His lisp was going. For the short time you'd known it, you felt you were going to miss it. And although you did your best to persuade him otherwise...you could tell he was going to be a good captain.

"So this is where you've been these past few weeks, _Sabo_."

The drawling voice snapped you out of your thoughts.

Sabo started, head whipping over his shoulder, "Ace."

You flicked your eyes back as the figure emerged from the undergrowth. He growled, "I thought it was odd, you just running off every Thursday. Are you seriously telling me that you've been negli...neglekt...forgetting about our pirate fund!"

"Never!" Sabo shot to his feet, "I want to go to sea just as much as you do!"

"Then what are you doing here playing with-" He kicked one of the discarded models- "THESE STUPID TOYS!"

You felt your heart clench. Model 77 was not one of your finest pieces of work, the rudder had turned out crooked, but you still had poured your heart and soul into it! You were the only one who were allowed to critique them!

Sabo evidently felt the same, "Ace, stop it. Angel worked very hard on those."

"Huh…?" Ace's eyes widened as he finally took in the mountain of near identical models. "All of these?"

You dipped your head, "Each one took me approximately 5 or 6 hours. Perhaps a little longer for the first ten or so."

There were hundreds of them.

"She's fun to watch, y'know," Sabo smiled, holding out his hands, "It's really cool to see that robot hand move so precisely and accurately."

Ace's lip curled, the shock still not quite leaving his eyes, "You and your stupid robot obsession…"

You felt your metal arm get snatched up, "I know just how cool you really think this arm is, Ace! I've seen you punch like her when you thought I wasn't looking."

You rolled your eyes. Ace had pride, he would never-

"That's…" Ace's face flushed crimson, "That's...that's not true!"

Wait, he had?! You clapped your non metal hand to your face. How mortifying! Those were by pure instinct, and probably had little to no technique to them.

"So what's the big problem?" Sabo continued, voice rising, "Why can't you guys be friends!"

You did a double take. What? Another friend? You weren't sure you could handle the emotional responsibility.

Besides...it was _Ace_. Someone who had never shown you anything but scorn and hatred. And yet…

You looked up to meet the boy's hesitant glare.

If what Dadan had said was true...the two of you may be more similar than you had realised.

The son of a devil, and the daughter of another...

Mother definitely classified as a devil as you looked back on her.

But still, "You cannot force us to be friends, Sabo."

The two boys, hands full of each other's faces, blinked at you.

You slid your knife through the wood, etching out the brim of a top hat, "If Ace does not want to be friends, it is his decision. I do not want to force it."

"But...but...you guys live together." He grimaced, "You can't keep hating each other forever."

"Whoever said anything about hating each other?" You eyed the black haired boy warily. "I don't... _hate_ Ace."

His face blanked, "Really? Since I find that very hard to believe after you punched me twice!"

"You provoked me."

"Guys!" Sabo glared at both of you, "Stop fighting! And Ace, I've punched you many times before and you don't seem to find that a problem."

"TRY BEING HIT WITH A METAL FIST!"

You flinched, "Really...I am so sorry about that..."

"Look!" Sabo flung his arms at you, "She's apologising. Apology accepted? Good! Let's move on!"

Ace flung out a hand, "Hold it!" He pointed to the wood in your hands, more than a little bit hesitant, "What's...what's that?"

You glanced down at the half finished model, "A block of wood?"

"NO!" He bristled, "It's one of your projects, isn't it? What's it gonna be?"

Sabo's grin widened, "It's gonna be me!"

Ace's eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets, "HUH?! NO FAIR?!"

"Want one?" Sabo sniggered darkly, "It's a friend's privilege only."

The conflicted look on Ace's face said he was definitely considering it.

"What was that Ace? Too old for playing with toys?"

"Sh-SHUDDUP!"

"I will just make one for you then."

"...Huh?"

Sabo deflated, "Aww why did you have to do that, Angel. It was fun watching him squirm."

You shrugged, "It really is no trouble. I need to get better at using my hand, remember? And this is fantastic practice."

Not to mention that the look on Luffy's face when you gave him that ship still filled you with joy. That smile… And then Sabo's when you'd offered to make one for him.

It made everything sparkle.

If Ace truly was the same as you, if what Dadan had said was not just the ramblings of a drunkard, you wanted him to feel like that. You felt he needed it.

More than anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeey... Took me long enough. Sorry for not updating that often. I've been going through a lot of stuff right now, and what little effort I did have, I've been putting into Missy.
> 
> So this chapter is shorter than I'd like, but it just ended so nicely...I couldn't keep going after that. Hopefully more Luffy next chapter. I had to get rid of the lisp though :( He's growing up.
> 
> What do you think? Let me know, I love comments!


	6. Lesson 6: A slave of a World Noble is forbidden to smile unbidden

You wiped your brow with the back of your hand. "All finished," you called down.

Sabo grinned, waving frantically on the ground as Ace glowered beside him, "Thanks Angel! This'll be a great place to hide our treasure."

"Sure," Ace grunted, "We won't need to if you yell it for the entire forest to hear."

Sliding away the screwdriver into your leg strap, you gripped onto the branch with your metal hand, "Oh I really do hope this works."

Since you were very high up after all. Perhaps...offering to create a secret compartment high up in a tree was not the wisest of decisions you had made…

But Dadan had been chasing you with a cutlass this morning demanding you do chores. And Luffy was off 'training' somewhere with _The Marine_.

Shrugging, you clenched your eyes shut and refused to look down as you swung off the branch. As you expected, you just hung there from your arm without much effort.

But now was the hard part.

You willed yourself to go down.

Nothing budged. No whirring, no chain, no nothing.

"Down please."

Again. Nothing.

"Everything okay, Angel?" Sabo called up.

Ace tsked, tapping his pipe against his heel, "Of course she's okay. She's got a metal arm."

Hang on a minute...Ace…

The first time had been due to wanting to save Luffy. The second time had been due to wanting to punch Ace.

What about if you told yourself you were going down there to punch him again?

The birds chirped in the tree behind you.

It always had been a bit of a long shot anyways. But still…There was no chance that you were willing to tell them that.

It would be mortifying.

"Oh come on…come down already…"

"Just leave her. If we're lucky she'll be eaten by wolves."

"ACE!"

Perhaps you were going about this incorrectly. You kept acting like the arm was a separate entity. When in fact...it was yours. Your arm.

YOUR arm.

You felt quite foolish for not letting this register sooner.

So if you wanted to go down...it was as if you were flexing a finger.

A giddy smile threatened to split your face as you saw the branch vanish high above you…at an alarming rate.

"Ah!"

Not that much! Slower...slower…

You slammed into the ground with a thud.

Alright. So it did not work exactly how you hoped. But you went down so…you considered that to be an improvement.

“Angel!” Your shoulder got flung back and forth, “Are you okay?!”

“Woah… That doesn’t look good…” Ace winced as he turned you over. “Just climb down next time instead or relying on that hunk of metal, yeah?”

You glared at him, “I needed the practice.”

His lip curled, “You and your practicing...One day you’re gonna kill yourself y’know?”

“Yeah. She almost killed _you_ a couple of times,” Sabo sniggered.

“Huh!? Say that to my face you coward!”

You rolled your eyes as you wiped the trail of blood streaming from your nose with the back of your hand. Your nose was throbbing. Never a good sign. You went to lift yourself back to your feet…

But your metal arm didn’t respond.

You willed it to make a fist. The fingers twitched slightly, before slumping back into the default position.

Panic erupted inside of you. What if it was broken? Had you landed on it at an angle after the fall? It didn’t _look_ damaged, but was there something inside that didn’t work?

What if you were stuck with one arm for the rest of your life?

_Metal glinting an ominous gold in the haze._

_Somewhere Mother was screaming. You couldn’t tell where though._

_Sizzling. Always sizzling._

_As the shadows looming over you swung down their-_

“Uhhh...Angel?”

You blinked and the image was replaced with the two boys standing above you.

Sabo crouched down, “You don’t look so good. Your face is grey...and really sticky.”

You used your working arm to wipe away the beads of sweat.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she wasn’t alright.” Ace stated, glare replaced with a more worried scowl, “That’s a lot of blood after all. And you fell from really high up so…” His face paled, “Dadan’s gonna kill me…”

Sabo flinched, “Good luck with that one.” He turned to you, “Can you stand?”

“That ankle looks too big...” Ace prodded it as you hissed. 

“Or...get up at least?”

You limply shook your head, “I can move this leg-" you gave it a wiggle just to show you could- "But I am unsure about the other one...Not to mention that there seems to be something wrong with the arm. It...does not appear to be responding.”

Sabo and Ace exchanged a glance. What that glance meant, you had no idea, but there was definitely meaning in there. Eventually, Sabo grinned hopefully at Ace. 

“No!” He shook his head, “Nuh uh!”

“Oh come on. You know the hag’s gonna ask more questions if she sees me there too.”

“No way! I’m not carrying her all the way there!”

“Agreed. That is out of the question!” You protested. You were not being carried. Not at all. Especially by another person.

They stared at you, “Then should we just leave you to be animal food?”

Your lips pursed.

“I thought not.” Sabo sighed.

You glared at him, “However, I do not want you guys to lose any time for my sake. Just go and let me lean against the tree, then go and transfer your gold.”

“No way,” Ace glared. “If we leave you here, you’re just gonna bleed out and attract every wild beast here. And then the hag’s gonna throttle me before cooking me on a spit.”

You pouted, “That may be a little bit of an exaggeration…”

His nose wrinkled, "She likes you more than me anyways. She's always going on about how great it is to have another girl around."

You blinked at him. Was he being serious? Had he forgotten that conversation the night you first arrived? Since you had not. You weren't sure you could.

_"The son of a devil, and the daughter of another. Was that what the old witch said?"_

A seethingly familiar voice reared its ugly head inside your mind.

_"They aren't worth you, brat! You are a far higher being than these scum."_

What Dadan had said still hung unwanted beneath the smiles and the laughter you saw each day. The other bandits, Ace not included, still avoided you at meal times. They said it was because of the metal arm still…but what if it was different?

"Smiles and words can be deceiving."

He frowned, "They what?"

You bit your lip, "There is often no way of telling the innermost emotions of a person. They can lie and scheme all they want, and you would never know."

Sabo's grip tightened on his pipe. Of course. He would be as used to this as you were. To an extent at least.

"So what if people scheme and lie and stuff," Ace crossed his arms, "I'll just kick their asses. What's this gotta do with how much the hag likes you?"

_"Ha! What an imbecile! He isn't even worthy of licking your shoes!"_

You flinched, but whether it was from the voice or from Ace you didn't know, "What I mean is that she does not in fact _like_ me, but is pretending to."

"So what?" Ace grunted, tugging you over his shoulder, " _Shit_ this thing weighs a ton…"

"Language!" You and Sabo blurted instinctively.

He glowered at you, "Shuddup. We live with bandits, I can talk however I want."

He did have a point there…You were going to have to get used to that.

"But what I was saying was, so what? It doesn't matter if someone doesn't look like they like you. I'm not gonna act all buddy buddy with everyone in the entire wo-HOW THE HELL DO YOU LUG THIS THING AROUND ALL DAY?!"

You shrugged, "I got used to it."

He glared at you with newfound respect, "No wonder you punch so well."

A smug twinge of pride quirked at the corner of your lips despite you knowing deep down it was because of the arm.

"Sabo… You're gonna hafta help me with this…"

"Oooh?" His eyebrow quirked up, "Is the great Ace asking for help? The one who doesn't need any help carrying a 10 foot boar?"

His face flushed, "Have you _tried_ carrying her? She weighs a ton. If you don't help me, I'm gonna have no choice but to drag that ankle through the jungle..."

You paled, "Please do not do that…"

"Fine." Sabo grumbled, "But I'm gonna take the arm. I'm the strongest."

"No, I am!" Ace insisted, almost yanking your metal arm out of its socket.

Sabo smiled innocently, "Oh, I think you've got that wrong, Ace. You haven't beaten me in a fight yet."

"Yeah, and you haven't beaten me either!"

"So what?!"

You stared blankly ahead as they continued to argue. Why _were_ they arguing anyways?

_"Because they are imbecilic fools like I have been trying to tell you!"_

Perhaps it was because they were male? It would be an understatement to call Ace hot headed...and Luffy was not exactly a peaceful child… Not to mention all the bandits and _The Marine_.

But Dadan was also quite confrontational…

You tapped your chin with your non metal arm. Due to the boys' fight, they'd just abandoned you against a tree. At some point you were going to have to worry about blood loss and potential infection, but for now you were perfectly content to be left to your thoughts.

Just what was it that made these people overly willing to argue with one another...such a conundrum. You had to figure it out. You just had to. Why were they arguing?

A twig snapped behind you.

As one, the three of you turned to stare at the large tiger that stalked forwards.

"Shit..."

"...language."

* * *

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED TO YOU, ANGEL-GIRL?!?!"

Your face lit up, "I- _Iva_?!"

Dadan sighed further down the hall, "I told ya she'd be pleased..."

Ace and Sabo's jaws hit the floor. "What the hell is that crazy big head man-woman thing?!"

They both received a firm thump on the head, "It's OKAMA, I'll have you know! And proud!"

"B-but Iva…" You spluttered as Ivankov prized you out of Ace and Sabo's stubborn grip ("OI LET GO!"), "What...what are you…?"

"What am I doing here, you mean?" A large smile split over their even larger face, "Well that's simple isn't it? Why wouldn't I come to wish my darling niece a happy birthday?"

Everything tuned out of focus.

Ace's mouth opened as if in a scream of indignation, even as Sabo tugged on his elbow for an explanation. Dadan puffed out a line of smoke, shaking her head. Dogra and Magra toppled to the side. But it all seemed like it was in slow motion. A blur. No noise. Like a picture, frozen forever.

Niece?

Did Iva really consider you as...family? You knew they liked you and cared for you, that much was obvious by how much they coddled you when they had found you, but... _family_?

A single tear rolled down your cheek.

And chaos erupted all around you.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH ANGEL-GIRL WHAT'S THE MATTER! ARE YOUR INJURIES THAT BAD! I NEED TO GIVE HER URGENT FIRST AID TREATMENT!"

"IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE HOLDING HER YOU FAKE MAN! GIVE HER BACK!"

"I WAS HER FRIEND FIRST YOU HEAR!"

"Both of ya...calm down…She's just cryin'... And hang on, who's the guy in the hat-"

"SHUDDUP YOU OLD HAG!" Thump!

"WHY THE HELL'D YA HIT ME?! Oooh you're gonna regret that one, ya punk!"

Crash! "Hey Dadan!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"No need to be that surprised...Oi Ivankov, what're you doing he- WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY GRANDDAUGHTER CRYING?!"

" _GRANDDAUGHTER_?!"

"AND WHY IS SHE CRYING?!"

"Huh? Angel's crying? Gramps you made her cry again!"

"Is that _another_ brat?! Three wasn't enough?!"

"Huh? Where the hell did this one come from?"

"Aaaace...this is why I told you I shouldn't be here…"

"Hehe…"

Tapping on your shoulder Sabo frowned, Ace doing his best not to look too worried over his shoulder, "You okay?"

"Yeah!" Luffy sprinted into you, wrapping his arms tightly around you."Are you alright?"

Before, it had just been you and Mother and that was that. And that had been fine. Anything else wasn't really necessary since slaves did the rest. But slaves weren't family. They came and went too fast to really make a lasting attachment.

Mother never really considered you her daughter. She never called you anything but 'brat' or 'thing'. Sometimes you wondered if she even knew your name. Or if she considered you as something more than a bargaining chip.

But now…

You had people who cared for you. Who were worrying about why you were crying. Who tried their hardest to come and visit you.

People who loved you.

You let out another laugh stronger than the first.

"This is perfect!"

* * *

"So this is Luffy, huh?" Sabo squinted at the beaming child as he kicked back and forth on the tree stump.

"Yup!" He giggled.

Ace tsked from the corner, "Seems like a brat."

"Oi!"

You sighed, ankle swaddled in bandages. Your metal arm was also going to be fine apparently. Iva gave you a hormone to help you produce blood faster, so it should be fully functionable in no time. You weren't quite sure _why_ that worked, but you were just satisfied that you hadn't broken it. "Not that I am not glad to see you here, Luffy, but...why _are_ you here?"

"Oh that?" Luffy grinned, "I heard Gramps talking about your birthday and since you gave me such an awesome present on mine I wanted to go and do something for you!" He pouted, "I ate your meat before we got to the mountain...sorry. I can get you some more..."

"No, no!" You frantically waved your hand, "That's fine, don't worry." Eating meat still unnerved you a little bit. Especially if you had to cook it yourself…

Sizzling.

You inwardly shuddered.

"Right." Ace grimaced, "It's your birthday." He spat on the ground, "They sure are making a big fuss over it if we're being kicked out of the shack. Looks like you're getting some sorta party..."

Sabo sniggered, "You jealous that they're putting in a lot more effort than for your parties?"

"N-No! I don't care about their stupid parties!"

"Suuuure…"

Oh that was right, there was one more thing you were confused about, "What exactly _is_ a birthday party? Is it like some sort of gala?" 

Luffy blinked, "Whassa gala?"

"You idiot... It's a type of seasoning." Ace proudly stated.

"That's garlic" Sabo mumbled, completely focused on you, "You're gonna have to elaborate on what you mean by 'gala', Angel."

You tapped your chin. How much could you say without giving anything away... "From what I remember, it is a formal event that adults attend. I guess it is a little like a family reunion of sorts where everyone insults each other passive-aggressively...Typically with a lot of alcohol involved."

"How...how often are these 'parties'?" Sabo motioned with his fingers.

"Hmm...about once every two weeks."

"Did you ever have one just for you?"

You couldn't bite back the laugh that rose within you, "Are you serious?! Why would I ever have a party for me?"

All three gaped at you.

A bead of sweat rolled down your head. Apparently they were..

"You...you don't know what a real... _birthday party_ is…" Sabo monotoned.

You cocked your head. You really thought you had that one.

Luffy blinked at you, "Really? You're dumb if you dunno what a party is."

"Well," Ace crossed his arms, the aggressive effect completely undermined by his shaken expression, "makes sense. She is...a...a...weirdo…"

You bristled, "I do know what parties are! Mo...my mother went to lots of them to meet her friends and…"

Torture slaves for sport.

Sabo was having none of it, "So...you didn't _celebrate_ each year on...y'know...the day you were born…"

Oh, that day Mother always got very drunk and started screaming that she never wished you'd existed. That...was a birthday party?

"I wouldn't exactly call it a celebration…"

You sweatdropped as their indignation rolled off in waves.

"So…" Ace's eyes widened, "No birthday breakfast?"

"I ate breakfast each day...?"

"No day you got to spend however you wanted?"

A snort.

"No...no...NO CAKE WITH CANDLES?!" Luffy shrieked.

You shrugged, "I had cake for desert occasionally…"

Each boy scrambled to his feet and dashed towards Dadan's shack, "WE'RE COMING TO HELP, YA OLD HAG!"

"ANGEL'S NEVER HAD A BIRTHDAY PARTY! EVER! I need to find a present..."

"Shit, me too…"

"SHE NEEDS CAKE! WITH...WITH...QUADRA-BIILLIONS OF CANDLES!"

"That isn't a real number!" You called after him, but he raced out of sight before he could hear it.

So a 'birthday party' was a big deal, was it? You smiled, breathing the fresh air of the forest. It felt quite nice to feel so cared about. Even if they had left you alone in the middle of a very dangerous forest on a mountain where everything wanted to kill you and probably could in a single hit.

But a birthday party was fun.

* * *

Your jaw dropped.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGEL!"

It wasn't grand. Not in the slightest. Nothing like Mother's galas, full of tight smiles and immaculately wrapped presents. These smiles were genuine, these wrapping paper-less presents were piled with pride. And it was all for you. For something that, strictly speaking, you had nothing to do with. You hadn't asked to be born. Mother regretted it each year. And yet here these people were with a hastily frosted triple layer cake with your name on it, the 'A' slowly sliding down the uneven surfaces. Someone had even tried to ice a replica of your arm, although it looked more like a sausage than a piece of metal.

And the presents...oh the presents…

They weren't something to show off wealth or prestige. These were like what you'd made for Luffy. Something personal. Something to show you that they cared. As if you didn't have enough proof already. You didn't need presents. Just being around these people was more than enough. Even if they argued, like the boys, or were just really really scary… They spent time and effort into making this a great opportunity for you.

The cake wasn't prepared by top tier chefs, but it tasted far better than anything you'd ever imagined. Especially when shoved down your throat by an overly enthusiastic Luffy. Even Ace cracked a rare smile at that.

That image pretty much summed up the entire meal or mess. This was a family of bandits after all. Miniature fist fights broke out over hunks of cake or who gave the superior present. And it wasn't as if you were foolish enough not to notice _The Marine_ and Iva exchange death glares when they thought you weren't looking. You liked this though. It was far better than forced smiles and broken eyes. It meant the smiles shone even brighter.

Vibrant.

That's the word you were looking for. So as Sabo playfully shoved his hat onto your head, as Ace did his best not to look pleased, and as Luffy repetitively failed to swipe your cake, you really couldn't be happier.

Could all days be like this one?

You hoped so. You really did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I'm alive! How is everyone? So here we are with yet another chapter, I really hope you guys like it. Really sorry about the slow and erratic update schedule, uni and my mental health has been a pain. I love writing this though, so don't you worry. The support has been so great, and as I keep saying, you guys are awesome! Love each and every one of you, even if you're just a lurker who just clicked this on a whim. Thanks everyone, and I'll see you next update! :)


	7. Lesson 7: To have the blood of a World Noble flow through your veins is the greatest honour

"Waha!" Wood clanked against wood, "I've got you now, Ace!"

The boy in question pushed the floppy black hair out of his face, "Heh, you're an idiot if you think that!"

Sabo shrieked as he fell into the hidden pitfall trap. While still scrambling to find a way out, his wooden figurine got snatched out of his hand, "No! Sabo Junior!"

Ace smirked as he waggled it just out of Sabo's reach, "I win."

"Nope!" Sabo sniggered, pulling the miniature wooden Ace out of his pocket, "It's a draw."

"Hang on… Where…? How…?"

"He snatched it out of your back pocket when he fell down the hole," you supplied from your perch on the tree stump.

Ace growled, "You think you're so smart…"

You rolled your eyes, sketching another line with the pencil. Luffy's smile was really hard to get right… And he obviously had to be smiling. There was no way you were going to start carving before you got it perfe...satisfactory.

Yet another word that had been unnecessarily outlawed by Sabo.

You frowned. Whatever you tried, that smile never came out the way you wanted it to. Perhaps you should ask about how best to go about this. A small smile flickered. It was about time you owed him a visit.

"Oi, Freaky."

You recoiled from the sudden object shoved into your face.

Ace pointed at the face on his own figure, "Why the hell did you make me look so pissed? It looks like it's gonna murder something."

That glare had come out perfectly. You were very proud of it.

"It's not as if I have ever seen you make any other expression." You replied blankly. "It's like you've got a resting murder face."

Sabo snorted.

Ace rounded on him, "You can laugh all you want! Your figure looks happy! And you have a hat!"

"Sabo always wears a hat."

"Awww...is ickle bickle Acey jealous~?"

"N-NO I'M NOT!"

You groaned, hopping to your feet.

Sabo cocked his head, "Hey, where're you going?"

"To Fooshia." You replied. "I have some business to take care of."

"She's gonna go see that brat again." Ace huffed.

You raised your head from packing everything into your bag, " _ Luffy _ isn't there today. His grandfather has taken him for the weekend."

...Doing Lord knew what to him. You shuddered. Good luck Luffy...

"What've you got against him anyways?" Sabo grinned. His tooth was finally growing back in, "I like him."

Ace scuffed his foot, "He's clingy. And annoying."

"I think he's fun."

Everything was packed. After making sure everything was secured, you hoisted it over your shoulder with your metal. You'd learnt the hard way that it was a lot easier to hold anything heavy in your hand rather than over your shoulder. That hand made everything seem light… which your back hated. And you had to be extra careful now while your ankle was still healing up.

Speaking of..."So how's the pirate fund going?"

They froze.

"Don't tell me I fell from that blasted tree for nothing."

"No." Sabo replied. "I-it wasn't for nothing. Not at all."

Ace nodded hurriedly, "The hidyhole...um….it's...uh...been useful."

"Yeah. Useful."

You raised an eyebrow, "You haven't gone out to collect anything, have you."

"It's your fault for never having a birthday party since you're dumb!"

"You're not dumb... We had to make sure you had fun!"

"For a week after?"

They fell silent.

Ace raised a finger, "Sabo wanted to make sure you were okay with your ankle and all."

"Hey!" His head whipped to the side, "You were worried too!"

"Was not!"

"Yeah you were."

"No I wasn't!"

You chopped down onto both of their heads. With the metal arm.

Thunk! Thunk!

"What the hell'd you do that for?!" Ace snapped once he got back to his feet.

Sabo grimaced, gingerly reaching for the throbbing lump on the side of his head, "And why me too?"

"You were giving me a headache." Groaning, you picked up your bag once more, "See you tomorrow, Sabo."

"See you… ow, you hit hard…"

A heavy sigh. "You'll get used to it."

* * *

Tobias' eyes twinkled behind smudged glasses, "It's been a while since I last saw you, little Angel."

"It really has." Your face softened at the sight of the old wood carver. You owed a lot to him after all. He was the one who encouraged you to start wood carving after all. Which you now had great joy in doing.

"You've grown so tall already. Although," he chuckled, "I suppose you hear that a lot."

"Only from Makino and Peta." But you didn't really believe them when they said that. As far as you could tell, you hadn't grown an inch. Perhaps Tobias' eyesight was going.

He beckoned your forwards, "So, knowing how diligent you are, I take it you aren't here for a social greeting?"

You shook your head.

"Ah…" The old man's shoulders sagged, "I see. What seems to be the problem?"

"Well, it isn't a problem per se…" Swinging your bag off your shoulder, you crouched behind a counter to retrieve the figure. "It is more that I am unsure how to go about this."

He settled down onto a stool as he inspected the drawing on the block of wood, "This is Luffy, isn't it?"

Your heart fluttered, "It's recognisable?"

"With your perfectionism, I wouldn't really expect anything else." He pushed his glasses further up his nose. Slowly, he turned to you, "Are you sure that you don't want to become my apprentice? You really have the eye, you know, and that doesn't appear often. Especially not in people as young as yourself."

You wanted to. You really, really wanted to. But...

Your metal arm gripped tighter around your waist.

"I apologise… but I cannot."

He huffed, turning back to the figurine. "I see."

You bit your lip and tugged your hood further over your face. 

"This wouldn't be anything to do with whatever you have under your poncho, is it?"

Ice pooled through your veins.

What?

Tobias raised a bushy eyebrow, "I'm no fool you know. Other people may not notice how that poncho hangs over you, but I do."

You took the tiniest step back. And then another. And another.

Anything to get away.

He pulled out the small carving knife from behind his ear and began to make a few marks, "One of your shoulders is broader than the other, and occasionally there are parts of the fabric that look almost angular." He glanced up, "From the way you are cowering in that corner, I take it that I'm right?"

You hadn't even felt the walls of the workshop digging into your back until he'd mentioned it.

Oh how you wished you could just turn back time until this morning, when you were watching Sabo and Ace play Capture the Captain. Nothing at all could have prepared you for this confrontation.

"I...I…"

Tobias got up from his stool, and started to walk towards you.

You flinched, slamming shut your eyes. What was he going to do to you? Hit you? Yell? Laugh?

Or was he going to go outside and tell everyone what a freak you were.

_ "You deserve it, brat." _

Tensing, all you could do was wait. Try to calm your breathing. Pray for your heart to stop pounding like a runaway bass drum.

A kind hand patted down on your head, "I'm sorry."

You blinked open your eyes.

"In hindsight, I shouldn't have pressured you like that. My mistake. It is all too easy to forget that you are a child at times, especially with a memory like mine," he muttered finally under his breath, more to himself than anything else. The hand removed itself, "Now then, would you like some tea and biscuits."

You nodded.

Tobias smiled gently, moving to the cast iron kettle, "Please, sit down on the sofa."

You sat on the rickety thing before you even realised it. So...could you tell him then? It wasn't quite sinking in. You didn't know what to think. Could there be other people out there like Peta and Makino? Your gut said no. If there were...it was highly unlikely that they would be here. People that kind were few and far between. But was Tobias trustworthy?

You wanted to tell him. But it wasn't really a question of whether you wanted to or not.

"Here you go," Tobias placed a tin mug on a handmade coffee table, alongside a heaped plate of chunky cookies, "Careful, it's hot."

One by one, you unfurled your metal fingers from around your waist.

Time to take the plunge.

You reached out with both arms to take the steaming mug, shifting it to your metal hand when your other couldn't even touch it.

Tobias, halfway through sitting down, stilled, "Ah. I see."

The tea scalded your throat. You couldn't even tell what it tasted like. Not that you would be able to anyways

"May I…" A hand outstretched gingerly. A question, only half expecting an answer.

Setting the mug down, you raised the oversized limb. Hesitating, you reached out, and placed it in his offered hand.

"Fascinating…" the man breathed, lowering himself into the sofa as he twisted your arm this way and that, "I haven't seen anything like it in my life…"

You said nothing, reaching out for a biscuit. That, you also couldn't taste.

Tobias shifted his glasses further up his nose, "A detachable hand… Plating with no rivets in sight..." His eyes twinkled. "This is simply exquisite work. No other word for it."

You blinked, "How could you tell that the hand could detach?"

"Ah." He started, apparently not even remembering that you were in the room, "Ah, yes, well, if I shine the light just so here… Do you see it?" A finger ran over a tiny, tiny ridge, barely the thickness of a hair.

You'd never noticed it before, and you doubted you would have if he hadn't pointed it out to you. 

"A commendation to just how well this was crafted." He thinned his lips into a line, tapping a finger absentmindedly on the metal. "If I didn't know better...I would say this was a Vegapunk."

"Who is Vegapunk?"

Tap tap… "Someone I thought I would never come across again in this lifetime. Especially not here in the East Blue."

* * *

Dadan gave a low whistle, "So you're an apprentice now?"

"Yes!" You nodded enthusiastically while you polished your arm. It was so satisfying when it reflected a distorted version of your face. "An apprentice craftsman."

Ace scowled, tearing a piece of meat off the bone he gnawed, "But I thought you just did wood carving."

Your nose only minutely wrinkled at the sight of food sloshing about the inside of his mouth. That had been something you were forced to get used to.

"I want to learn more."

"I think it's great," Dogra chipped in, "We could use someone who knows how ta fix stuff."

Dadan groaned, her cigarette almost bitten in two, "Yeah...especially when that Shitty Garp breaks everything."

Everyone paused, as if the man would be summoned at the mention of his name. When it became evident that no brute was about to come smashing through the walls, a collective sigh of relief echoed across the main room.

Ace scoffed, "He's gonna freak out once he sees that arm. You'd better keep it outta sight."

You glanced up, "Oh he knows."

"Huh?!" He shot to his feet, "Whaddaya mean he knows?"

"Master Tobias knows about my arm."

"And you think that's smart?!"

Dadan thunked him on the head, "People are gonna find out at some point. That tiny poncho isn't exactly gonna keep it hidden forever. Besides...the entire purpose of her even having a metal arm is so she can use it."

You nodded, setting down the rag and dragging your plate of food towards you.

"Then why keep it hidden anyway?"

Eyebrow quirking up, you gaped at him, "Do  _ you  _ want to be seen with an arm the same size as you are? The proportions are unnatural. When I grow up it should be fine, but I do not want to cause a fuss among anyone I meet."

Ace frowned, "It wouldn't matter if you cause a stupid fuss if you just punch them in the face first."

"That would cause an even bigger fuss."

He groaned, "And why the hell's a 'fuss' bad in the first place? All it is, is a bit of attention."

You stiffened without meaning to.

Everyone was looking at you. No,  _ staring  _ at you. Ogling you as if you were in a zoo. Curious. Wanting to understand the unknown.

As if you were under a spotlight.

_ "We are gods after all. Isn't it natural that we are always in the centre of attention?" _

He cocked his head, confused.

You stood, "I… I'm not hungry. You can have my share." And before anyone could stop you, you practically sprinted out the room.

Sleep wasn't an option. Mother's cackling was everywhere, and so were thousands of staring eyes. You couldn't even think of resting with your skin covered in goosebumps.

Not to mention that after dinner Ace would come in and keep on asking tricky questions that you weren't sure you could avoid.

Air. You needed air.

Your legs took you far into the forest. Further than you'd ever been by yourself. Vicious animals threw themselves at you, but you just punched them away. Not that many actually did attack. You suspected that the unnatural smell of metal and joints that surrounded you scared off some of the weaker ones.

How fortunate.

Could you go to Fooshia? You shook your head at the thought. Luffy got back this evening. Makino and Peta would be busy pampering him as soon as he returned. He deserved it after all. You couldn't interrupt that. Master Tobias' apartment was small. There was no room for you there. And no one else knew about the arm.

So Fooshia was out.

Lungs burning, you came to a steep cliff. If your memory was correct, Sabo had told you about a near vertical wall that neither he nor Ace could climb. This was probably it. You turned. You should head off again soon. If none of the boys could climb this, there was no chance in you doing it.

Moonlight glinted into the corner of your eye.

You glanced down.

One by one, you moved your metal fingers into a fist. Marching back, you craned your head up the wall.

It was tall. You weren't even sure your chain could extend that high. There weren't even any ledges or hand holds to be seen. No wonder no one could climb this thing.

Using your other hand to support and aim, you raised your metal arm up at the wall. This thing had enough force behind it to level a grove of ancient trees. If it couldn't dig into a rock...you would be very disappointed.

"Grapple," you murmured. It wasn't necessary, but it helped your mind to focus.

The hand shot forwards, and clamped into the wall just over half way up. You grinned, grabbing tighter onto the stone in your grasp. So far so good. A little lower than you would have liked, but so far so good.

Now for the more complicated part.

"Pull."

Normally, your hand returned to you. You had never returned to your hand. Although both scenarios appear to be identical, there was a significant difference. If your hand returned to you, you wouldn't be able to climb the cliff and instead would assemble an impressive collection of rocks. If you could return to your hand…

The chain grew taut as the retracting process began.

Your hand strained against the rock, but you willed it to hold tighter. Tighter. It couldn't let go. You wouldn't allow it.

The chain continued to retract.

And your feet started to skid across the floor.

Your eyes widened, "Yes…"

For a moment, only a matter of seconds, you hung suspended off the ground. Your breath hitched.

Did flying feel like this?

You slammed straight into the rock face.

"Ow."

But you didn't have time to think. The chain was still retracting, and your hand was holding fast, so the only thing that could give was you. Which was why you were being dragged up a vertical, not so smooth rock wall.

Thankfully, it wasn't for long. Your hand wasn't high above you, and your wrist quickly made contact with a thunk.

For a moment, you just hung there breathing heavily. It didn't take much for your arm to keep holding on, and you needed a brief rest while you figured out what was going to happen next.

You were dangling without any form of support halfway up a vertical rock face.

If you didn't know better, you would have thought this was a dream. But it wasn't. And you weren't going to reach the top if you kept hanging here.

Tapping your chin with your free hand, you considered the possibilities. Ideally, you wanted your arm to do the same again, but that was currently clamped into the wall stopping you from falling a considerable height.

You couldn't resist the urge to look down.

The ground looked a long way away… Taller than that tree even.

You slapped your face. You shouldn't think like that. If you wanted to fly, then you were going to have to go a lot higher than this. Forget flying, if you wanted to get to the top of this rock face you were going to have to go a lot higher than this.

But how? You couldn't hang here forever.

A piece of rock around your hand split off, bouncing all the way down beneath you. Now that you could get a good look at it, your hand really had embedded itself deep into that rock. You smiled to yourself. Ace had been right. This really was an upgrade from your old arm. That had been much weaker…

An idea.

Grunting, you willed your arm to pull you up. Now you were at eye level with your metal hand. There was no chance you could reach here otherwise.

Reaching out with your flesh hand, you hesitated. If this didn't work...

Don't think like that. Don't think like that.

Three metal fingers cautiously unfurled themselves from the rock; thumb, index, and middle. A shower of rock shards spilled into your face, causing you to turn and cough away the dust.

But the remaining fingers held.

You sighed in relief. Now for the next step.

Reaching forwards, you held on for dear life where the index and middle finger had been. You never thought that you would ever be thankful that your arm was so big, but you were definitely doing so now. The rock dug into your skin, but you still clung on.

You weren't arrogant enough to believe that you could hold on with just your flesh hand. You could barely hold a bucket of water with it, let alone your own body weight. And that wasn't even considering the recoil from firing your hand. So you were going to have to get creative.

A foot raised up, the same side as your metal hand, and you did your best to wedge it where the thumb had once been. Your foot was bigger than the thumb, to be sure, but due to the impact of your hand a hollow had formed around the small hole. Just big enough for you to get some support.

Enough support, for you to be confident in letting go with your metal hand.

Okay, perhaps confident wasn't the right word. You couldn't be confident in a situation like this. But it was the closest you were going to get.

The final two fingers let go.

You doubled over, curling into a ball on the rock face. Your muscles were already starting to burn. Not wasting another second, you aimed your arm up, "Grapple."

The recoil almost made you lose your grip as your shoulder got knocked back.

A sudden horrifying thought occurred. What if your hand didn't grab on? It could come back and knock you unconscious. Then there would be no saving you.

"Just 'could's and 'what if's." you muttered to yourself, "'Could's and 'what if's."

You felt your fingers start slipping.

"'Co'...'Could's...uh...a-and..."

Your hand gripped onto something.

Instantly, you pushed away from the rock face. Once again, you just hung there, dangling in the wind.

Your heartbeat thundered in your ears. The command didn't even need to be said. It was almost as if the arm knew what you wanted. You weren't sure you could even say it anyway.

Eventually, you reunited with your hand once more, and you couldn't be happier to see that it was gripping the top of the precipice. You didn't want to admit to yourself that you couldn't do it again.

All it took was a scramble and a roll, and you lay flat on your back, at the very top, looking up at the stars.

You let out a laugh despite yourself. It worked. It actually worked. And you couldn't have done it without that great big lug of metal. You turned to see it glint in the moonlight. Right where it should be. It was odd by just how relieved you were to see it there. Before, you'd always disliked your arm. But now...you couldn't picture yourself without it. It was just so...

_ "Unnatural!" _

_ "Freakish!" _

_ "Monstrous!" _

Useful. And fun!

You could climb anything. Make anything. Break anything (as far as you knew). Grab anything.

The moonlight shone gently down on you, almost like a caress on your skin. My, you really were tired if you were thinking nonsense like that. That sort of challenge was just what you had needed.

You reached out with your metal hand, blotting out the moon with outspread fingers. "I'm going to fly, Mother. And you can't stop me. I'm going to fly as free as the birds." You let it fall, landing on the rocky outcrop with a clink.

Yawning, you felt your eyelids get heavy. You couldn't stay out here though. You would be eaten by the first animal that came across you. Begrudgingly, you got to your feet and stifled yet another yawn.

You didn't shuffle far before coming to an aged tree. Due to a rockslide that dislodged some earth, a tiny hollow had formed under the roots. And it was just the right side for you to crawl inside.

Another yawn as you settled down into the soft moss. Hopefully, the smell of your arm was enough to deter any of the smaller predators.

For the first time in a long, long while, you didn't ever dream of fire and screams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wahooo! I'm back! Finally, am I right?
> 
> I genuinely can't believe I wrote 4 pages on climing a rock... Damn my pacing is off. But I felt it was needed to show some thought processes, as well as develop some thoughts. Please let me know what you think... I'm having a great time reading your comments, even if I don't reply to them. They mean a lot. Take it from me.
> 
> On a slightly more serious note, I really hope everyone's staying safe and healthy. If you know someone who is affected, my heart goes out to you. I hope you can pull through. I will do my best with my newfound free time to keep writing, and hopefully provide more frequent updates, it's the least I can do.
> 
> Stay safe everyone :)


	8. Lesson 8: Commoners are not fit to breathe the same air as a World Noble

A loud snuffle and a bright light woke you up. You flickered open your eyes, groaning. The baby boar squealed and dashed back into the undergrowth. You yawned, stretching your arms in front of you.

Perhaps the metal one didn't need stretching, but it was more of a habit now than anything. And you had a cramp in your flesh arm.

But still, you shuffled out of your little cavern, you really should get moving. After all, when there was a young animal, its mother was never far behind. You could handle it no problem, you just didn't want to.

You sighed as you walked out to the cliff you'd climbed just last night. In the morning glow, it didn't look half as intimidating as you remembered it. Grabbing some berries from a bush, you sat down with your legs dangling over the abyss. They were edible, you knew that much. Sabo had shoved them down Ace's throat a couple of weeks ago. He hadn't been happy about that.

Snorting at the memory, you tossed one into your mouth. You winced immediately. Now you knew why Ace had spat them out so fast. You threw them away, grimacing at the red stain on your palm. Even rubbing it on a leaf didn't get rid of it.

So what were you going to do now? Go back to Dadan's?

You shook your head. After your unpresidented episode earlier, you had a feeling that it would be awkward to go back now.

Besides, they would be glad to see you gone.

You were the daughter of a demon after all. And although they called each other friends, Ace still didn't really talk to you unless Sabo was there.

Tossing a pebble down the cliff, you watched it bounce all the long way down. It was quite fun to hear the bouncing echoes so you gathered a handful, and threw down one after another. It was a distraction from your thoughts.

Plink...plink...

You couldn't live out here forever...or maybe you could. Defending yourself was easy thanks to your arm, which also meant getting meat wasn't a problem. And borrowing a book on edible mushrooms from Fooshia wouldn't be a bad idea.

Plink…plink...

It was a little bit beyond you right now, but it was possible that you could build your own shelter. Either up here or in one of the trees would work. Somewhere away from animals. Although...you shuddered. There were animals everywhere round here. Perhaps a tall tree would be a better option, especially considering you were then the only one able to get up there thanks to your arm.

Plink…plink...

Iva would be worried when she couldn't find you. But that was something you were going to have to deal with yourself. Once she realised that you could take care of yourself ( _ if  _ you could take care of yourself, you grimaced), then she might be slightly better about it. Slightly.

Plink…plink...

You froze. What about  _ The Marine _ ? 

No. You weren't even going to think about that.

Plink...plink…

_ "They wouldn't care about you, brat! The only one who truly understands you…" _

What about meal times, where the daily scrum broke out? What about running away from angry Dadan when she was angry at you? What about that sloppily baked birthday cake they made?

Plinkety plink plink plink.

The stones tumbled out of your limp hand.

An act. It was all an act. No one could care for you.

_ "...is me." _

"ANGEL!"

Your eyes widened. 

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAANGEEEEEEEL!"

Ace… That was Ace's voice.

So he was searching for you. You sighed. You were a fool for not realising it sooner. Dadan must have sent everyone she could to scour the forest for you. She wouldn't want the wrath of Iva and  _ The Marine  _ coming down on her when they realised you weren't coming back. Ace had no choice but to obey.

But why was his voice full of panic?

He should be nonchalant, using as little energy as possible. If anything, he shouldn't have listened, and just gone off to find Sabo and laugh at how foolish you were.

He was scared of  _ The Marine _ . Yes, that was it. Anyone would be scared of  _ him _ .

You got to your feet. It would be ideal to get a basic shelter built before nightfall, so you really needed to start working.

" _ PLEASE _ ! WHERE ARE YOU?! SHOUT IF YOU CAN HEAR ME!"

You bit your lip.

Ace would never say please.

Now you just knew he was trying to get on your good side. Perhaps Dadan had offered a reward for capturing you. She might have decided that after your outburst it wasn't worth taking care of you anymore. She was speaking to the authorities at that very moment.

_ I found the missing daughter of Saint Tsutra. I took care of her when she was injured. How much money can I get as compensation? She was a right nuisance you know! _

The eyes bore into your back. They were chattering.

_ Is that really a World Noble? She slept on the ground though. In the dirt! _

You stared at your feet. Ignore them...ignore them...

_ How undignified! _

_ What a fool. _

But the harder you tried, the louder the laughter got.

_ I heard that she breathes the air of commoners, and even talks to them! As equals! _

_ No! Is that really true? _

_ Her flesh is contaminated by metal...is she trying to start a new trend? _

_ Ha! Her perfection has been ruined. What a disgrace. _

You clapped your hands to your ears, but the silence was as deafening as ever. Full of jeers and scoffs. You were pinned, surrounded by tall shadowy people, unable to move. The largest moved forwards, caressing your neck with her familiar voice.

_ "You should have died with me in that fire, brat." _

The forest was ablaze. Wherever you turned, thick plumes of smoke smothered the horizon. Crimson sky burned in every direction.

And always...the sound of sizzling.

And the smell of burning flesh.

"Angel!"

Without warning you got knocked backwards, a heavy weight falling on top of you.

You couldn't breath! The smoke was too thick! You inhaled ash instead of air. And you couldn't move your arms! They were pinned at your sides by...by…

"Geez…" Ace sat up and flicked your forehead, "That's for running off and scaring us, you idiot!"

Birds fluttered across the clear blue sky.

Your jaw fell slack. There were no words. Nothing could leave your mouth.

He tumbled to the side, closing his eyes, "You're so stupid. Why the hell did you run away? You could've been eaten or s'mthing… It was a pain to find you too."

Dirty grazes littered his skin. There wasn't an inch that was clear from mud or blood, be it on his skin or on his clothes, and a strange assortment of twigs and leaves had been plastered on every part of his body.

He actually put in...effort?

A gentle snoring filled the air.

How long had he been searching for you to have passed out as soon as he closed his eyes? Had he even slept?

You brushed a leaf out of his face, the soft inhale and exhale not even changing at your movement.

Probably not then.

But… You grimaced. You'd come up here in the first place because neither Sabo nor Ace could climb that rock face. How did he get up here?

You were still quite close to the edge, so you gingerly leant over. Instantly, your eyes widened.

Trails of blood stained the rock. Not splattered though. As if someone had repetitively slammed their body into the rock, forcing their way upwards. All of the trails aimed towards one thing, then upwards from there.

The crevice you'd created with your hand last night.

Now you knew what to look for, it was quite obvious just how bloody Ace's fingers were compared to the rest of his body. A couple of fingernails had been torn out, and those that remained were snapped and coated in a fine layer of dust and dried blood.

Why…  _ Why _ …? It didn't make any sense. Ace hated you. He'd made it no secret that he hated you. And yet he exerted everything in his body to climb a near impossible rock face just because you were at the top.

WHY?

A low growl came from behind.

Your metal hand shot out, grabbing the baboon by the scruff of its neck and tossing it off the edge of the cliff

As the metal shot back into your wrist with a thunk, you frowned at Ace's limp body. It wasn't a good idea to stay out in the open like this. The blood would draw more wild animals, and you weren't sure how many you could hold off by yourself. You grimaced. It would have to be fast. You could only carry him with your metal hand, which limited your options for defending yourself.

The place you'd slept last night wasn't far. It would have to do. You just hoped that the open dirt wouldn't infect his wounds.

Kneeling down, you gently positioned him over your metal hand. It was large enough to mostly be able to cradle him in the entire length of the arm, for which you were thankful for. You didn't want to crush him. He didn't react as you moved him, merely murmuring nonsense in his sleep.

Just as a precaution, your other hand reached for your pistol as you stood. Shooting it wasn't ideal, as it would probably make you a target for all animals instead of scaring them off, but it was a small comfort to know you weren't completely vulnerable.

The move went off without a hitch, ending with you sliding Ace between the roots and into the hollow. You sighed. So much for small mercies. It was bigger down here than you'd initially realised, probably why you found it so comfortable to sleep with your metal arm, and there was just enough space for you to squeeze in next to him while sitting up.

Ace woke up not long after, "Wh...where the hell are we!"

You frowned as he snatched his hand from your grasp, "Safe...for now at least. Now get back here. I need to sort out those cuts."

He stared at the assortment of bandages and plasters covering his fingers, "You're awfully prepared."

"I used to cut myself a lot when carving. After that, I made sure to carry around a decent supply. Now, please may I dress your wounds?"

Hesitating for a moment, he slowly shuffled closer.

You continued your work, dipping your head in thanks.

The two of you sat in silence. Occasionally someone would open their mouth as if to say something, before closing it instantly with regret.

Awkward silence. Like it always was when it was just you and Ace.

But you had to say something. You ought to say something.

"I'M SORRY!"

You blinked at Ace.

Ace blinked at you.

You gestured, "After you."

"Nah. You go first."

He was being unnaturally polite, but you decided to leave it. "I'm sorry I ran out like that. It was…" You fumbled with your hand, "It was irrational. I wasn't thinking straight and didn't check my emotions and I made you all worry and probably caused a fuss and-"

"Stop."

You cocked your head, "But-"

"You don't have anything to be sorry about. If we made you upset, we made you upset. There's nothing wrong with that. I said something that made you sad, which was dumb of me. So I'm sorry."

Your head was shaking before he had even finished, "You weren't to know. There's no reason to apologise."

"I should've guessed." He bit his lip, "You never really liked attention. And Dadan said you were the daughter of someone bad after all."

You froze, before your shoulders drooped, "Yeah. My mother was hated by a lot of people. Too many people." Reaching out, you placed the final plaster on his cheek. "All done."

He paused, not meeting your eyes, "You're always going on about how smart you are. Then tell me, what would you say if, and I mean if, the Pirate King had a son?"

Ah. Now things started to make sense. "Do you mean  _ the _ Gold Roger?"

"Yeah."

Tapping your chin, you hummed under your breath, "I understand where you're coming from. I dislike being my mother's daughter. Or even the idea of being related to that family."

"But Roger's the worst of the worst!"

"I very highly doubt that," you turned to him, "Tell me, what's the worst thing he's done."

Ace faltered, "Well...he was King of the Pirates."

"And is being a king bad?"

"Being a pirate is! And Roger was the most powerful out of all the pirates!"

"Did he buy slaves, only to torture them."

"W...Huh?! What're you ta-"

"Did he?"

"Well…" He frowned, "I, I don't know. Don't think so at least."

"Did he think himself superior to all human lifeforms?"

"He was called the Pirate King!"

"The media was the one who gave him that title, purely because he reached the final island in the Grand Line." You scowled at his plummeting jaw, "Even if he wasn't your father, I would still read up on such a historical figure… Ah…"

"He...uh...He's not my dad! H-h-how could you think that?!"

You'd forgotten he couldn't read… Someone would have to teach him at some point. And that someone was probably going to be you. You sighed.

"Oi! He's not my dad! I was just saying it hippo...hipper…"

"Hypothetically?"

"Yeah, that."

You chuckled despite yourself.

He laughed back, before dying off and staring at his feet, "But even if he isn't so bad, why do people hate him so much?"

"I don't see why that matters."

"Yeah, but you're weird, Freaky."

You gave him a light thud on the head with your non-metal hand, "Even so, why care about public appeal? You want to be a pirate, don't you?"

He bit his lip, glancing away.

You might have pushed him a little too far. Well, these sort of issues weren't solved with a few words. He was going to have to figure that out for himself. Sighing, you collapsed onto your back, splaying your arms, "Well…shall I tell you about my mother?"

"Why?"

"You've shared part of your demons, it's only right I should share mine. Although...personally I feel that she's more hated than Roger."

"Nah. That's impossible."

You raised an eyebrow at him, "He started a new generation of pirates. Even if they do not have an exceptional moral code, I'm sure there are people out there who respect him. More people respect him than my mother at least."

"Why? What could she have done to make her worse than the Pirate King?"

So you told him. You told him everything. The torture. The screaming. The slaves. Everything. And Ace just listened, not saying a word.

"I'm not sure I get it," he finally said after it was obvious you finished, "Who buys people for no reason but to kill them? And why would they think they're better than everyone? Wearing bubbles on their head for special air? How dumb."

"I don't know why they do what they do." You hummed, "But that was my mother."

"Roger's worse, but she's pretty bad."

You rolled your eyes, "Perhaps. But many people want me dead because I'm her daughter, just like you."

"Maybe…"

"The difference between us is that I knew my mother. You're basing your argument off rumours. There are probably people out there who knew Roger, you should go and ask them what he was actually like."

He shrugged, "Don't wanna. Knowing who he is shouldn't change what I want to do or who I want to be. I don't want to be stuck knowing that no matter what I do, I'm only going to be remembered as his son."

"That must be nice…" you sighed. You had to change your name to not associate yourself with Mother after all.

"Huh?"

"Oh, nothing."

Silence again. But unlike the tense ones from before, this was a comfortable silence. One where you actually enjoyed the other's presence. Like that moment when you both overheard Dadan, but this felt deeper. More permanent.

"Ace?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you do all that?"

He sat up, "Do what?"

"Go to such efforts to try and find me after I ran out yesterday."

"Well…" He scratched his head, "Do I need a reason?"

You turned to him, "Yes. Who does anything without a reason, let alone ruin their hands trying to climb a vertical wall."

"They aren't ruined-"

"Oh you get the idea." Sighing, you watched a worm wiggle through the soil below, "You hate me. If I didn't come back, you could've gone back to your regular life without a problem."

"Huh?" Ace yelled, sitting bolt upright, "Sure I hated you at first, but what made you think I hate you now?"

You cocked an eyebrow, "You call me Freaky and scowl at me all the time."

"I thought you liked being called that?"

"Why would anyone like being called a freak?!"

"Well you gave me a list of options after all. Freak was...all I could remember."

He had a point. You scowled. "It wasn't meant to be taken literally!"

"How was I supposed to know?!"

"Still." You glared at him, "That doesn't explain the scowling."

"I…" He turned away, ears bright pink, "I was...trying to look smart…"

You gaped.

"You look so concentrated when you're carving after all. I was just...trying to make you think that I could be concentrated too…"

And it came out as a scowl? This was getting ridiculous.

"So." He sat up, "Are we going back or what?"

You froze.

"The old hag was bawling her eyes out when you left. So were most of the others come to think of it. They think you're their Angel or something."

Scoffing, you rolled your eyes.

"It suits you, you know. The name I mean."

You let him wiggle out of the hole first, "Really? I feel it's a bit obnoxious at times."

"Well...you look really delicate, but you're not!" He gulped as you glared at him. "You've hit me enough times to know!"

Chuckling, you maneuvered yourself out. It was a little tricksy with your large arm, but you managed.

Standing side by side, you looked over the forest from that cliff. That bloodied, near vertical cliff.

"I don't need a reason to look for you when you're missing."

"Hm?" You turned to him.

"You're my friend. I'd be sad if you were gone, and so would everyone else."

It was bright. Everything in that moment seemed overly saturated, simply dripping with colour and energy. But nothing was in focus, instead forming into formless blurs of block colour.

"Geez...you're crying?" Ace groaned as you wiped the streaming tears from your eyes. "So you really are a kid. You don't act like it half the time."

"Shuddup…"

The wind pushed back the hood, letting the glowing warm sunlight fall upon your face.

A hand ruffled your now exposed hair. "And an idiot if you seriously believed we didn't like you."

That's right. You were an idiot. But a happy idiot.

Which really was all that mattered, in the grand scheme of things.

You slowly reached out and gripped Ace's hand. He hesitated, clearly not expecting it, but took hold of yours in return.

Warm. It was warm.

Was this what it was like to be cared about? To have someone worry over you? To have someone who didn't think you were a waste of space?

But there was one thing. One thing that you really needed to know, sooner rather than later.

"How are we going to get down?"

You shared identical looks of shock and horror, before bursting into loud peals of laughter.

Dadan later found the two of you in your room, huddled in a mass of blankets and limbs. The two of you were covered in a new layer of dust and scrapes, the majority of which had scratched the fingertips of your metal hand.

Even so, you slept on. A wooden figurine in your hand.

A wooden figure, with a wonky smile scratched over its scowling face.

Sabo was your first friend, but Ace was your first brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaaaaaas! I'm here! Finally! Sorry for the lack of a chapter, I find this one tricksy to write to my satisfaction. Which this one might not be...but hey. I'm somewhat happy with it. And my priority is on my other fic, Missy. But I'm still updating this! Just give me time!
> 
> Also, quick reminder to say that I am British. Plasters are band-aids. My apologies for my Britishness *aggressively sips tea*
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	9. Lesson 9: A slave should never show emotion in front of a World Noble

"Should we _really_ be doing this?" you muttered, shifting your weight.

Ace hissed beneath you, "Oi, stop it or I'm going to drop you. Hey Sabo, why am I at the bottom? Angel weighs a ton."

You sighed. He should try having this fixed to his shoulder every day.

Sabo hushed you both, "We've been over this. Angel is in the middle because she has the adult sized arm. You have the glove, Angel?"

Glancing at the grimy leather glove that you'd forced onto your metal arm, you nodded. As you did so, everyone pitched to the side.

"D-DON'T NOD!"

"Ah! Sorry!"

"Don't say sorry, just don't do it! I'm having a tough time keeping you straight because of that damned arm already!" Ace grunted, "But I know she has to be in the middle, I ain't that dumb Sabo."

"I _'am not'_ that dumb…" you corrected under your breath.

"So why do I hafta be at the bottom?!"

He snickered, "Isn't it obvious? After Angel, I'm the one who speaks the best."

"HUH?!" Ace roared, hands tightening around your ankles, "How can you be better at speaking!?"

"I use correct grammar and elaborate vocabulary."

"What's 'a boar-rat volcano' gotta do with it?"

"Exactly. So I'm at the top."

"I still don't think we should be doing this…"

They both groaned, "Oh come on, don't you want to have some fancy restaurant dishes?"

Your stomach gurgled eagerly. It had been a while since you'd had anything that wasn't berries or roasted meat. At that, your resolve was set, "Fine."

"That's the spirit!" Sabo laughed, throwing on the cloak to hide the totem pole of three children, "Let's go get some food! Onward!"

The tower remained still.

"That means 'move', Ace."

"Uh, I knew that!" He raised his foot…

And everyone crashed down to the ground.

"Is everyone alright?" Sabo called out from under a mess of cloak.

You nodded, spitting out a mouthful of soil.

"Oi Sabo, what the hell did you do!?"

"Me?! You're the one who made us all fall over."

"Huh! How was it my fault?!"

"You're the one on the bottom!"

"AND WHO PUT ME THERE?!"

"So that was a failure," you hummed, pulling out your notebook to make a note of it, "Hardly surprising really, considering the weight distribution."

Ace's nostrils flared, "You saying you think I'm weak?!"

You rolled your eyes, "No. I'm just saying that you're not used to _balancing_ all that weight on your shoulders. You said it yourself, my arm is more than a little bit heavy, and all that weight is concentrated to one side with nothing to counterbalance it."

"Uuuuuh...so we can't do it?" Sabo groaned, collapsing onto his back, "But we've been waiting to do this for _ages_. All we needed was a third person to get the height right…"

"No, it's definitely achievable."

They leapt at you, eyes sparkling and drool dripping, "Really?!"

You wiped a stray drop of saliva from your face, "Yes. It might take some careful planning though. Especially for you, Ace!"

"Aww…" he grimaced as Sabo cackled to the side, "Why me?"

"Since you're essentially our legs, you are quite important to our operation succeeding"

"Important, huh?" He puffed out his chest.

"If you cannot walk naturally, we would never get through the front gates. And if Sabo doesn't sound like a regular adult we'll never get in. And if I-"

"ALRIGHT!" Ace roared, "I'M THE MOST IMPORTANT!"

"Did you even listen to a word she said?"

"Yup. She said I'm the most important."

"No she didn't! We're all important."

"But I'm the most important. Angel said so and she's smart."

"SHE NEVER SAID THAT!"

"DID TOO!"

"DID NOT!"

You sighed. Technically _you_ were the most important, since you were the only one who appeared to have more than two functioning brain cells. It was just as well they had someone to make a decent plan.

Judging by the glares they were giving each other, this argument was close to coming to blows. You'd better stop this quick, "So do you actually want to do this or not?"

They froze, nodding vigorously.

"Well if you do," you held up the notes you'd been making in the notebook, "We're going to need to make some preparations first."

* * *

"Ace, can you pass me some meat?"

"Sure."

"Thanks."

Dadan's eyebrow twitched, "What're you two up to?"

You both blinked at her.

"What do you mean?" You asked, cocking your head innocently.

"Nothing's going on." Ace echoed back.

"Nah nah nah…" She pinched her temple, "Something's up."

You looked down at Ace.

Ace looked up at you.

"I don't see anything the matter, do you?"

"Nope."

You went back to tearing into your meat.

"DON'T TRY TO PULL THAT WITH ME!" Dadan roared, "ANGEL, WHY ARE YOU SITTING ON ACE'S SHOULDERS?!"

"I think it's cute," Magra smiled, "It's nice to see they're finally getting along."

"BUT WHY?!"

"Training." You both said in unison.

"Training for what?"

"Do we need any reason to train," Ace droned as he tossed aside the bone.

"B...uh...b...b," Dadan spluttered, "But...but...it's only training for _you_. Angel's just sitting there. Won't she get bored or s'mthing?"

"I have my carving…" you mumbled. To be quite honest, you weren't that comfortable with this. It reminded you of the human chairs that Mother liked. But Ace had rejected merely carrying weights. He, since he was the 'most important', wanted to do it properly.

Which basically meant that Ace was going to carry you around on his shoulders for a week.

Not ideal, especially since you'd been planning a visit to Foosha some time soon, but once the Ace had an idea stuck in his thick head it was never going to leave.

You really regretted suggesting this…

* * *

"So this is Fooshia is it?" Ace whistled, head turning in every direction possible.

"Y...yes…" you mumbled, tugging your hood further over your face. This was so embarrassing. Everyone was staring at you. You were sure they were. And they were probably whispering too…

"Hm?" Ace glanced up when he realised that you'd curled as small as you could, "You okay?"

You paused for a moment, before nodding.

"Right. Let's get going then. Where was it you wanted to go?"

"Ah," you perked up, "I was going to go see Master Tobias. There was a project I was wondering about."

Ace's brows knitted together, "That's the guy you showed your arm to, huh?"

Well, you'd also shown it to Luffy, Makino, and Peta...but right now you'd probably set him off if you told him that. You nodded once more.

"Good. Since I'd like to talk to him too."

Oh you would give anything to take back your words and not be in this situation right now.

"We don't have to go right away," you leant down. It was tough talking to him from on his shoulders, "You haven't been to Foosha before have you?"

He started shaking his head, the sudden movement making you topple backwards. In an effort to save yourself, you latched onto the first thing you could.

Ace's grubby short hair.

"YEOW!" He hopped back, "Uh…oh no..." Two pairs of eyes widened in horror as gravity started to do its work.

You landed first, Ace falling on top of you with a thump. You grimaced. Cobblestones always hurt, and you could already feel your back begin to ache.

"Gah!" Ace roared as he shot to his feet, "That hurt!"

It was your fault. If you hadn't suggested that ridiculous plan and if you hadn't grabbed Ace's hair, you wouldn't be in this situation and Ace wouldn't be angry.

So you dipped your head, "Sorry."

Ace tsked, "You say sorry way too much," he held out a hand, "If anything you should be mad that I dropped you. My bad."

You blinked, "But...it was my fault."

"How?" He raised an eyebrow, "You really are an odd one, Freaky."

A vein pulsed in your forehead, but you still accepted his offer to pull you up, " _Don't_ call me Freaky."

"Well what else am I gonna call you then?"

"My name, like a civilised human being?"

"A civy what?"

You sighed. Someday, you were going to teach him more vocabulary. As well as how to spell... 

"Angel!"

A tiny being zipped round the corner and collided with your stomach, knocking all the air out of you, "L...Luffy?"

The small boy grinned, "I didn't know you were coming today!" He pouted, "You shoulda told me…"

"Well, it's quite hard to communicate on Mount Corvo," you replied, lips inevitably curling upwards. Luffy always made you smile. It was as if he was a bright ball of energy that just couldn't help infecting everyone around him.

An arm shoved Luffy back. "She didn't tell you because we've got something to do," Ace glared, "So stop bugging us and go away."

Almost everyone.

"Nuh uh!" Luffy protested, "I wanna play with Angel!"

"Well she doesn't want to play with you."

"She always wants to play with me! I'm her Captain!"

Ace whipped towards you, "Captain?!"

"It was all I could say to calm him down," you admitted, "I thought he would forget about it…"

"Captain of what?!"

"My pirate crew, duh!" Luffy cocked his head, "Are you stupid?"

"WHADDYA SAY!?"

You sighed, turning on your heel and walking away, "I need to go and see Master Tobias. If you two want to glare daggers at each other, be my guest."

"No! I'm coming with you."

"Yeah me too Angel. Me too!"

Ace glared at him, "You're not coming."

"Yeah I am!"

"No, you're not."

This was getting ridiculous. "I don't need to see Master Tobias just yet. We can hang out for a little bit."

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!"

"A...Angel…!" Ace deflated, looking more than a little bit betrayed.

"Actually-" you bent down to meet Luffy's eyeline- "This is Ace's first time in Foosha. Can you give him a tour."

He pushed out his bottom lip, "Hmmmm… Only if you throw me again."

"I'll be very happy to throw you...off a cliff and into the ocean…"

You ignored Ace, "Luffy, I already told you why I can't do that in the village…"

"Then do it in the jungle area. Gramps took me up there so fast, I dunno where you live. And I wanna come and visit."

Ace recoiled, "No way!"

You agreed. It really wasn't a good idea, and you didn't want Luffy to associate with bandits. Who knows what Dadan would say, "I don't know, Luffy…"

"Angel…" He blinked furiously.

Oh not the puppy eyes. Anything but-

"Pleeeeeeeease!"

You sighed, "Okay then."

He turned to Ace.

"Well...fine if you want it that much."

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!"

Damn those puppy eyes… No one was safe.

"Okay!" Luffy shot his hands to his hips, "The Wonder Mega Super Awesome Luffy Tour of Foosha is about to begin. Form a line!"

"Why do we have to do this?" Ace hissed in your ear.

"Because it makes him happy."

"Okay I'll ask again. _Why do we have to do this?!_ "

"You!" Luffy pointed at Ace, "Stop speaking quietly! It's mean!"

"Mean?"

"He means 'rude'."

Ace huffed, "Well why're you blaming me? Angel was whispering too!"

"Angel can do it because she's nice."

"So you're treating me differently, huh?!"

You patted him on the shoulder, "I'll carve you a new figurine when we get back to Colubo."

"...with a cool hat like Sabo?"

"A cooler one."

"...fine."

You were always surprised by how fickle he could be sometimes. 

"Alright!" Luffy declared, "Let's go to the first place. Can I hear an aye aye captain?!"

Now you and Ace blinked, "A what now?"

"An aye aye captain! Since I'm the captain of the Wonder Mega Super Awesome Luffy Tour of Foosha."

It was worrying just how much of _The Marine_ Luffy had in him. He really was his grandfather. You honestly forgot sometimes.

"Aye aye captain..."

He grinned, "Let's gooo!" And with that he skipped merrily off.

You exchanged a glance with Ace.

"I dunno what you see in that kid."

"He's really nice when you get to know him," you smiled, "Just give him a chance, and he'll give you one."

Ace snorted, rolling his eyes, "Like that's ever going to happen."

"Oh come on, he's just a child. And you never know-" you lightly tapped him on the shoulder- "you might just make a new friend."

"I have enough friends."

"HURRY UP! YOU'RE MISSING THE WONDER MEGA SUPER AWESOME LUFFY TOUR OF FOOSHA!"

"How the hell does he remember all that?"

"Because he's interested. He only remembers stuff he likes. But we should go" you urged, "Luffy's getting impatient."

"This tour had better be good."

To your surprise, Luffy did a really good job. For Luffy at least. It wasn't just a mad dash around Foosha, although there were multiple times that they doubled back on themselves or found that they went down the same road twice. Luffy even had 'insightful commentary' on each location.

"This is the library. I don't like it in there because I'm not allowed to eat any meat and Angel always tells me to be quiet. It's got looooots of pictures of pirates though. They look so cool in the posters, and all of them have big numbers underneath. Angel tells me that's bad, but more meat is better, so I think a big number is a good thing."

"I sometimes come to eat here. The food's reeeeeally good, but way too expensive. So I don't bother and they chase me. Mayor says I should stop, but the meat's way too good for me to do that. H...hey why're you both running away? AH! MISTER, I'M SORRY DON'T HIT ME PLEASE! I'M DOING A TOUR! I'M NOT EATING MEAT TODAY-"

"This is the ship place. It always stinks, but I like the stink because that means Makino makes lots of meat for dinner. Fish meat's alright, but I prefer cow meat. But cows don't live by the ship place. I dunno how we get cow meat. We get a few pirate ships, which is really cool, but there aren't any cool pirates. They just rob us, and Mayor screams and shakes his fist at them. I don't wanna be that sort of pirate."

"Makino tells me to buy the fish meat from here. Old Man Gyoru and his wife Chicken own it. She's not a real chicken, I tasted. Her folks musta really liked meat. I want meat..."

"Old Man Tobi lives here. He doesn't talk to anyone apart from Angel because she makes cool stuff. He's really nice though, and gives me hot chocolate if I ask. He also makes really really strong coffee. Coffee's disgusting. I like hot chocolate."

"These are the windmills. I dunno what they're used for, but they look cool. I tried to hold onto one of the wing things once so I could see the whole town, but they got mad at me."

"This is Old Man Mi...Mito...Something hard to say. He's really weird. He can't go past broken doors without fixing them. He gets annoyed at me often. Apparently I break too much stuff, but I dunno how I can't. They're just there right in front of me. I can't help it. He calls me a 'dumb bastard' all the ti...huh? I can't say that, Angel? But why, he says it to me every day. D-don't beat him up!"

It was a lot more fun that you'd expected it would be. Even Ace cracked the occasional smile halfway through running from the restaurant owner, or your not-so-subtle threats to Mr Minatomo. Next time, you were going to bring Sabo down here. Hanging out with everyone was just so much...fun! But all good things had to come to an end

"And this is where I live," Luffy pointed up to Partys Bar with pride, "I stay here with Makino and Peta. They're really nice, wanna go and say hi?"

You grinned, "I would love to see Makino again. I still need to thank her for the clothes."

"She _made_ them?" Ace asked, more than a little impressed.

"Yes, she did." You took in his tatty t-shirt and shorts, "I'm sure she would make something for you if you asked."

"These are fine," he grunted back. 

"Hey! Makino! Peta!" Luffy yelled, flinging open the saloon doors, "I bought some friends!"

Ace stilled for a moment, before following you into the roaring bar. It was early afternoon, and you'd walked past many small shops that had closed for the day. So you weren't that surprised to see the bar packed to the brim with people. They smiled, calling out various greetings to both Luffy and to you. You'd been around town enough times for a few people to recognise your face after all.

Even so, it always surprised you just how friendly these people were. Why couldn't everyone in the world be like them?

"Well who do we have here?" Peta beamed, passing a drink to a customer, "Angel! It's been a while. We were almost afraid you had forgotten about us."

You smiled, "I could never forget about you. Both you and Makino have done so much for me after all."

"Who's this lovely lady here?!"

You giggled as your sides were pinched and tickled, "Makino! Please! Stop it!"

She beamed, holding a hand to her face in mock shock, "My, is that really Angel? It can't be... You've grown so much I can barely recognise you!" She grinned at Ace, "And who is your cute friend here?"

You waited for Ace to protest. To say he wasn't cute, he was manly and strong.

But you didn't expect him to turn away and start twiddling his fingers.

How odd...

"Makino, let them come in already. I'm sure they would like a nice drink."

Luffy whooped, "Is there orange juice?"

"Freshly squeezed."

"Yay!"

The rest of the patrons chuckled as you took a seat on the barstools, especially as Luffy tried and failed to clamber up the tall chair. Eventually, to his dismay, Makino lifted him up.

"Three glasses of orange juice coming right up." Peta smiled, passing both you and Ace glasses of refreshing tangy juice and a heavily dented metal cup of the same towards Luffy. Luffy had dropped too many glasses for him to get one of his own. He turned to Ace, "Ah, my apologies for not introducing myself. My name is Peta, and this is my daughter Makino."

Ace dipped his head, "...I'm Ace."

"Ace!" Makino beamed, "What a handsome name for a handsome boy!"

His mouth dropped in a perfect 'o', eyes sparkling, "R...really?"

"Yes! Now I wonder…" Her fingers twitched, inching closer to Ace sides. "Can we get a smile on that scowling face?"

"....huh?"

You winced. Poor Ace. He had been targeted by the biggest tickle monster in the world.

"Bffffffffffffffffffffft!" His shoulders hunched upwards as he recoiled to avoid Makino's dangerous fingers, "Q-quit it!"

That was impossible. No one stopped Makino when she had found her target. Ace squirmed back and forth, but she never relented.

"Oi kid," a gruff man sitting behind you smirked, "Just give up and smile already."

His partner raised his tankard, "She's a determined one alright. Never stops until she gets her way."

"You shoulda seen her with your friend in white. Now _that_ was dedication."

You pouted at them, which they obviously found absolutely hilarious. You had endured that torture for over an hour.

"A-ANGEL! Hahah! M-M-MAKE HER SSSTOOOOOP!"

You thought not. Ace deserved a bit of payback for the way he had treated you when you had first arrived. You hadn't quite forgiven him yet. So you just raised an eyebrow, and sipped your juice."

"You...you...TRAITOR!" But there was nothing behind it. How could there be when Ace was red faced with a grin that stretched from ear to ear.

The bar patrons cheered, tankards and glasses and bottles and more thrusted into the air with joy. Luffy was roaring with laughter, rolling around on his stool so much he was in danger of falling off. Even you found your shoulders heaving, until you let out a full bellied laugh.

What would Mother have said if she'd seen you now? Probably something about how this was so undignified, and how something so trivial could make you laugh like that.

But it felt so good to express joy and happiness with people you cared about, and not have to worry about the consequences. To laugh when you wanted to laugh. To find fun in the most unexpected places.

To have people to share that fun with.

You never managed to make it to Tobias' workshop that day. And you were glad you didn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! It's been a while...like usual.
> 
> I'm actually really happy with this chapter. When I got into it, it really seemed to write itself. Hopefully that's a good thing.
> 
> I actually have a request this week for you guys. Next month, Broken Faith is going to be a year old. A YEAR OLD! I'm surprised too. It means that I've written fewer than one chapter a month...which is pretty bad. Sorry about that. I'm trying to do better. But anywhoo, I was writing this chapter and really wanted to see the totem pole of Ace, Angel, and Sabo. So if any of you are feeling somewhat creative, there's a prompt for you. Some of you have been awesome about drawing stuff, and I really appreciate it, but I don't mind if you don't want to. I'm just quite selfish sometimes....
> 
> Speaking of being selfish, if you're interested, go check out my new fic, 'One Step Behind'. Because I didn't have enough work to do... Go me... It's an OC fic, which is different to what I'm used to, but I'm actually really proud of it. Only one chapter so far, but I plan on updating it soon. So go and check it out if you're interested!
> 
> Thanks for reading, and see you next time!


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